Italy A scored a surprise win over Georgia at the at Stadio Bruseschi in Palmanova on Friday, although Georgia were shorn of many first-choice players.
Georgia, coached by Tim Lane, led at half-time through a try by scrum-half Bidzina Samkharadze, converted by Lasha Khmaladze.
But Italy A bounced back in the second half, with Riccardo Bocchino landing a penalty on the hour mark and then full-back Paolo Buso racing through a static Georgian defence and scoring a try.
The Italians, led by inspirational captain Valerio Bernabo, held off a stiff forward challenge for the rest of the match.
The scorers:
For Italy A:
Try: Buso
Pen: Bocchino
For Georgia:
Try: Samkharadze
Con: Khmaladze
Italy A: 15 Paolo Buso, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Michele Sepe, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernaḅ (captain), 4 Tommaso Reato, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Massimiliano Ravalle, 18 Plinio Sciamanna, 19 Manyvydas Tveraga, 20 Agustín Cavalieri, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Enrico Patrizio.
Georgia: 15 Lasha Khmaladze, 14 Alexander Todua, 13 David Kacharava, 12 Revaz Gigauri, 11 Irakli Machkhaneli, 10 Lasha Malaguradze, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 Dimitri Basil, 7 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 6 Rati Urushadze, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Ilia Zedginidze, 3 Vasil Kakovin, 2 Irakli Natriashvili, 1 David Khinchagishvili.
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 David Kubriashvili, 18 Viktor Kolelishvili, 19 Simon Maisuradze, 20 Irakli Abuseridze, 21 Merab Kvirikashvili, 22 Irakli Chkhikvadze
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
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