Georgia entered the match as favourites courtesy of their 11 titles from the past 12 competitions but fellow World Cup qualifiers Portugal certainly hadn’t been written off heading into the match.

Indeed, it was Portugal who started the stronger side, needing just six minutes to get their first try of the match, with captain Tomas Appleton profiting from a quick tap and crashing over in the wider channels. While the try wasn’t converted, Portugal still had the early lead.

Head coach Levan Maisashvili called the fixture a “hard game”, but added he was “very proud of the team” for the result.

"Portugal played well in the first half, but in the second half we managed things much better and made fewer mistakes. We deserved to win”, Maisashvili said.

His counterpart Patrice Lagisquet recognised his team had been beaten by a “stronger and powerful team”.

Georgia and Portugal will play each other again in Pool C of the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.