England made to battle by dogged Georgia

Two tries from Shontayne Hape gave England the early advantage to lead Georgia 17-10 at half-time in their Pool B encounter at Otago Stadium.

Georgian number 8 Dimitri Basilaia crashed over on the stroke of half-time and the conversion by Merab Kvirikashvili put his side within a score.

England had taken less than four minutes to breach Georgia's defence when Hape sprinted clear after a bullocking run by second row Simon Shaw. The second came on 21 minutes, both converted by Toby Flood.

The Georgians responded vigorously, taking the game to the former world champions.
Georgia pounced on a scrappy England scrum but wing Irakli Machkhaneli was knocked into touch as he dived for the corner.

Then England indiscretions at the breakdown - they conceded 11 penalties by the interval - allowed Kvirikashvili the chance to peg back the score.

However, the fly half was off-target with his first three penalties before finally landing one in the 27th minute.

Dylan Hartley was sin-binned for persistent infringement just before half-time and Basilaia made his mark from the ensuing scrum.