The Georgian Black Lions put in a superb performance to claim an impressive 42-27 (halftime 28-6) win over the South Western District Eagles in their Carling Currie Currie Cup first division match at Outeniqua Park in George on Friday evening.
Two penalties from Eagles flyhalf Gene Willemse either side a converted try to Lions lock Nodar Cheishvili made it 7-6 to the visitors after 12 minutes.
The Lions then took full control of the game as lock Mikheil Babunashvili, hooker Shalva Mamukashvili and eighthman Tornike Akubardia all went over for tries, with flyhalf Luka Matkava slotting all three conversions as they took a 28-6 lead after 35 minutes, which they held into the halftime break.
The Eagles got off to a fast start in the second half as left wing Rosco Syster went over to score in the 42nd minute, with Willemse adding the extras to give themselves hope of a comeback.
However the Lions hit straight back two minutes later through a converted try to flank Sandro Mamukashvili to put them into a 35-13 lead.
A second converted score to Syster in the 58th minute, followed by a try to replacement back Freggie Africa, converted by Willemse in the 69th minute then saw the Eagles cut the deficit to eight points.
However the Lions firmly shut the door with four minutes remaining as replacement hooker Tengiz Zamtaradze dotted down, with Matkava converting to make sure of the result.