Robertson scored Scotland's opening try against Georgia in Romania

Scotland A (13) 21
Tries: Robertson, Fusaro Cons: Laidlaw Pens: Laidlaw 2, Blair
Georgia (3) 22
Tries: Sutiashvili Cons: Kiasashvili Pens: Kiasashvili 5

Defending champions Scotland A suffered an embarrassing defeat in their IRB Nations Cup opener against Georgia.

A Mark Robertson try and eight points from the boot of Greig Laidlaw had the Scots 13-3 ahead at half-time.

But a second penalty by Irakli Kiasashvili, a converted Shalva Sutiashvili try and two more penalties put Georgia 19-13 ahead in Bucharest.

David Blair replied with a penalty, but Kiasashvili kicked another three points before a late Chris Fusaro try.

The Scots won all three of their games at the tournament last summer, but they lost their opener on this occasion to a side who are in their pool for next year's World Cup finals.

The guys know that they've let their country down, they've let themselves and each other down Scotland A head coach Sean Lineen

Scotland started brightly in soaring temperatures, with Robertson crossing over in the corner after being released by Jack Cuthbert following a wide pass from Alex Blair.

Laidlaw's conversion and two successful penalties had the Scots 13-0 ahead before Kiasashvili replied with a penalty either side of the break.

And, when Scotland conceded a penalty inside their own 22, scrum-half Bidzina Samkharadze took a quick-tap and sent the ball out wide for Sutiashvili who held off Robertson to score.

Kiasashvili's conversion levelled the scores and his successful kicking put Georgia in the driving seat until debutant Fusaro crossed the line after good work from Robertson and Cuthbert.

However, David Blair missed the conversion and a 79th minute drop goal attempt to condemn the Scots to defeat.

Scotland A head coach Sean Lineen:
"In the first half, we botched three or four tries just from poor decisions and you can't do that at any level.

"The guys know that they've let their country down, they've let themselves and each other down.

"We're using this tour as a development tool and this is where you find out about players and, if you have to take a bit of pain, then so be it. The players forgot about the game and how hard it is.

"Georgia played a very simple game. They didn't play rugby, they just kicked. We were trying to move the ball about a bit, a lot of individual errors.

"We lost the platform in the second half. We scored near the end, which was good. But then, just the composure in that last five minutes, we panicked a little bit and gave them back the ball when we needed to keep it."

Scotland A: Cuthbert, Shaw, Dewey, Houston, Robertson, A Blair, Laidlaw, Kalman, Thomson, Douglas, Eddie, Turnbull, Newlands, Grant, Hogg (capt). Replacement: Rennie for Dewey (6 mins), Kelly for Thomson, McMillan for Laidlaw and D Blair for A Blair (all 50 mins), Young for Kalman (55 mins), Fusaro for Grant (62 mins), McKenzie for Eddie (68 mins).

Georgia: Kiasashvili, Todua, Zibzibadze (capt), Gigauri, Chkhikvadze, Khmaladze, Samkharadze, Dadunashvili, Bregvadze, Sheklashvili, Sutiashvili, Uchava, Maisuradze, Tavartkiladze, Kolelishvili. Replacements: Asieshvili, Kakovin, Mikautadze, Sakvarelidze, Rokhvadze, Korkelia, Ninidze.

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