OLD ALBANIAN’S Nick Foster helped England Counties U20 to their first win in after taking a 16 point lead through the boot of Rob Avery-Wright and a try from Kent’s Jesse Liston.

The mid-week fixture enabled the coaches to test out different combinations as the squad prepare to take on Georgia U20s on Saturday evening.

Head coach Bob Hood said: “Georgia proved that they are a serious rugby playing nation and produced a very physical and organised performance. The Counties U20 have only had four training sessions since meeting at Stanstead last Saturday and we are very pleased with the way they played and responded to the challenge.

“The fixture was useful to assess where we are as a group and to establish the work-ons ahead of the main test on Saturday. The England players have proved to be great ambassadors for the game and we are already extremely aware of how much our visit is appreciated by the Georgian Rugby Union.”

Playing in front of a large passionate crowd at the Shevardeni High Performance Centre in Tbilisi, England benefited from Georgia’s ill-discipline with three penalties from fly-half Avery-Wright before replacement Liston touched down early in the second half.

England continued to play a high tempo and expansive game but as they made changes Georgia forced their way into the match, scoring two converted tries within ten minutes.

With just under a quarter of the game still to play England re-gained their focused to defend their two point lead until the final whistle.