Georgia national rugby union team

There were several unsuccessful attempts to introduce a rugby union into Georgia, the earliest known being in 1928, with subsequent attempts also in 1940 and in 1948. Rugby was introduced to Georgia by Jacques Haspekian, an Armenian man from Marseilles in France who taught the game to students in the late 1950s through to the mid-1960s, although he then subsequently returned in France. He is still alive and living in Marseilles, he was interviewed on French radio on the occasion of Georgia playing France in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The first rugby session was held on October 15, 1959 in Tbilisi, at the racecourse, where 20 people attended the meeting. The first Georgian club formed was the GPI (Georgian Polytechnical Institute), now known as "Qochebi".

Rugby's popularity in Georgia might be explained by its resemblance to the traditional Georgian game named "Lelo" or "Lelo Burti" (meaning "Field Ball"). This game was played in Georgia from ancient times and is still played on occasions in rural areas. A field ("Lelo") was selected between two river creeks which represented a playing ground. Two teams, usually consisting of the male population of neighboring villages, would face each other. The number of players from each side was not set, but included any able men each village could summon. A large, heavy ball was placed in the middle of the field and the goal of the game was to carry it over the river creek of the opposing side.

The first teams appeared in 1959. The Georgia Rugby Union was founded in 1964, but until the late 1980s it was part of the Soviet Union's rugby federation. The rugby union connection between France and Georgia started as links were established by the then powerful French Communist Party and many other left-wing organisations. Georgia initially did not have its own team and its best players would play for the USSR team.

In 1988 Georgia produced their first national sevens side. In September 1989, Georgia got together with other FIRA countries to host a tour by Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's first match on the tour was in the wet against Georgia in Kutaisi, west of Tbilisi, which Georgia won 16–3. The next year Georgia went to Zimbabwe where they played two tests, losing the first in Bulawayo and winning the second 26–10 in Harare.

On 9 April 1991 Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union. Georgia was now a rugby union nation but getting matches was not easy: the old Soviet team continued under the name Commonwealth of Independent States. Georgia were limited to the odd game against Ukraine until they gained membership of the World Rugby in 1992.

French coach, Claude Saurel, first arrived in Georgia in 1997 with a brief to assess the standard of sport; he and his development team have helped boost the profile of the sport. Saurel went on to work with the Georgia national rugby sevens team, until he was appointed as the national coach in the summer of 1999.

Georgia's 1998 loss to Romania saw them play a two legged repechage play-off against Tonga to qualify for the 1999 World Cup. On that occasion Georgia lost the first leg 37–6 in Nukuʻalofa before a 28–27 win in Tbilisi. This was not enough and Georgia failed to qualify.

Georgian team celebrating victory

After France and Italy dropped from the reborn European Nations Cup, Georgia became a major force in the tournament. In 2000, Georgia finished second in the competition, finishing behind Romania. The following year, Georgia improved upon this, winning all five of their matches during the 2000–01 tournament, and thus finishing at the top of the table. They clinched the title by beating Romania away 31–20 on the final day. Rugby union took off in the country, the travel and opportunities to land lucrative contracts in France made rugby union a glamorous pursuit in Georgia. Georgia placed second in the 2001–02 tournament. When Georgia played Russia in the European Nations Cup 65,000 people crammed into the national stadium in Tbilisi.

Georgian first made an impact at Rugby Sevens by finishing a respectable 10th in the 2001 edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Argentina.

In October 2002 Georgia faced Russia, in what was at the time one of the most important clashes ever between the two national sides. The victorious nation would head to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and the loser would be relegated to fight it out for a repechage position. Neither nation had ever been to a World Cup, though Georgia had come close in 1999. 50,000[1] spectators turned out to the national stadium. Both nations kicked penalty goals in the first half, but Russia moved ahead with a 13–9 lead through a try, but Georgia were able to score a try of their own just before half time, with Levan Tsabadze putting them in front 14–13 at the break. Georgia held on, winning 17–13, a victory which sparked celebrations throughout the capital.[2] Three of the 75 French-based Georgian players were denied permission to play in the tournament and were suspended. Another five were sacked and arrived in Australia as free agents. In a warm-up game held in Asti the Georgians lost to Italians 31–22.

In the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Georgia were grouped into pool C alongside giants – South Africa and England. They suffered their heaviest ever defeat when beaten by England 84–6 in their opening game. In their second match, Samoa comfortably eased to a 46–9 victory. Although they performed well against the Springboks (losing 46–19) they were disappointingly defeated by Uruguay 24–12, in a match that they were expected to win. They lost all four of their matches but had impressed against South Africa. Despite the sad financial state of their union, qualification has seen the sport's profile rise throughout Georgia.

Lineout for Georgia during their loss to Ireland in the 2007 World Cup.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup Georgia were drawn against Argentina, Ireland, Namibia and tournament hosts France in Pool D. The team recorded their first win in the rugby world cup with a 30–0 win over Namibia in their Pool D match at Stade Felix-Bollaert. The foundation for the victory was laid by Georgia's experienced forward pack who wore down their opponents at the breakdown. The 2007 world cup campaign is also well remembered for Georgians by brilliant display against Ireland, where Georgia narrowly lost the match 10–14. The tournament was over with 7–64 defeat to hosts France on 30 September.

At 2011 Rugby World Cup, Georgia's Pool B included England, Argentina and Scotland, as well as local rivals Romania. Despite the close nature of their pool, Georgia were impressive in all matches, including a tight match against Scotland which was lost 15–6, thus missing a bonus point narrowly and a 41–10 loss against England, which featured a man-of-the-match performance by flanker Mamuka Gorgodze. Georgia went on to record only their second ever Rugby World Cup win against Romania, winning 25–9 with another man-of-the-match performance by Mamuka Gorgodze. Georgia finished their campaign with a strong showing against Argentina, leading 7–5 at half time before conceding 20 unanswered points to lose 25–7. Thus Georgia finished their campaign with 1 win and 3 losses.

In the 2015 Rugby World Cup Georgia played against Tonga, Argentina, title holders New Zealand and the top African qualifier Namibia in Pool C. The group opener finished with Georgia's 17–10 victory against Tonga. It totally paid off for what the Lelos have worked so hard during RWC preparations. With this history-maker fixture, they won the third World Cup match in the history of Georgian Rugby. Georgia lost second match against Argentina 9–54, although in the first half finished 14–9 for the Pumas. In the third match Georgia were defeated by New Zealand 43–10 in Cardiff. Again in the first half The Lelos held very well against the mighty All Blacks, with score remaining 22–10 for the world champions. In the last match Georgia defeated Namibia 17–16, for the first time ever finished the group on third place with two wins and two defeats and secured their qualification for 2019 Rugby World Cup.

In 2016, Georgia once again cemented its claim to be the seventh best national rugby team in Europe, when they won the European Nations Cup for the sixth consecutive time, with 10 wins from 10 matches. In the 2016 mid-year internationals the Lelos traveled to the Pacific islands for the first time and finished the historic tour unbeaten with 19–19 draw against Samoa, 23–20 victory against Tonga and 14–3 victory against Fiji.

Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 13 January 2021[3]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.20
2		England	089.49
3		New Zealand	088.95
4		France	085.30
5		Ireland	084.65
6		Australia	083.08
7		Scotland	080.82
8		Argentina	080.31
9		Wales	079.36
10		Japan	079.29
11		Fiji	076.87
12		Georgia	072.18
13		Tonga	071.44
14		Italy	070.88
15		Samoa	070.72
16		United States	068.10
17		Spain	067.51
18		Uruguay	067.02
19		Romania	065.33
20		Portugal	062.12
21		Russia	061.96
22		Hong Kong	061.23
23		Canada	061.11
24		Namibia	061.04
25		Netherlands	060.09
26		Brazil	058.19
27		Belgium	057.17
28		Switzerland	054.12
29		Chile	053.81
30		Germany	053.13
*Change from the previous week
Georgia's historical rankings
See or edit raw graph data.
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 16 November 2020[3]

Georgia has won 148 of their 241 representative matches, a winning record of 61.41%. Since World Rankings were introduced by World Rugby in September 2003, Georgia have occupied below number ten the majority of the time.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Georgia national team at test level up until 7 February 2021.[4]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	5	0	5	0	0.00%	66	186	−120
Argentina XV	3	2	1	0	66.67%	54	61	−7
Australia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	8	27	−19
Barbarians	1	0	1	0	0.00%	19	28	−9
Belgium	7	7	0	0	100.00%	332	37	+295
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	100.00%	70	8	+62
Canada	7	4	3	0	57.14%	145	141	+4
Chile	2	1	1	0	50.00%	53	36	+17
Croatia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	29	15	+14
Czech Republic	8	8	0	0	100.00%	310	58	+252
Denmark	1	1	0	0	100.00%	19	8	+11
England	3	0	3	0	0.00%	16	165	−149
Fiji	5	1	4	0	20%	82	147	−65
France	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	64	−57
French Barbarians	1	1	0	0	100.00%	16	15	+1
French Universities	1	1	0	0	100.00%	24	20	+4
Germany	8	8	0	0	100.00%	418	35	+383
Ireland	5	0	5	0	0.00%	41	219	−178
Ireland Wolfhounds	1	0	1	0	0.00%	5	40	−35
Emerging Ireland	2	0	2	0	0.00%	27	65	−38
Italy	2	0	2	0	0.00%	59	39	−20
Italy XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	51	−44
Italy A	5	2	3	0	40.00%	71	83	−12
Emerging Italy	2	1	1	0	50.00%	44	36	+8
Japan	6	1	5	0	16.67%	96	150	−54
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	100.00%	17	5	+12
Latvia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	28	3	+25
Luxembourg	1	0	0	1	0.00%	10	10	+0
Moldova	1	1	0	0	100.00%	47	5	+42
Morocco	1	1	0	0	100.00%	20	10	+10
Namibia	5	4	1	0	80.00%	112	73	+39
Netherlands	4	3	1	0	75.00%	164	64	+100
New Zealand	1	0	1	0	0.00%	10	43	−33
Poland	2	0	2	0	0.00%	29	52	−23
Portugal	21	15	4	2	70.00%	508	292	+216
Romania	24	14	9	1	62.5%	476	394	+82
Russia	24	22	1	1	91.67%	595	267	+328
Samoa	5	3	1	1	60.00%	91	115	−24
Scotland	5	0	5	0	0.00%	48	187	−139
Scotland A	2	1	1	0	50.00%	25	90	−65
South Africa	1	0	1	0	0.00%	19	46	−27
South Africa A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	17	31	−14
Southern Kings	2	1	1	0	50.00%	41	51	−10
South Africa President's XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	21	−5
Emerging Springboks	2	0	2	0	0.00%	10	35	−25
Spain	21	17	3	1	80%	637	300	+337
Switzerland	1	1	0	0	100.00%	22	21	+1
Tonga	7	5	2	0	71.43%	119	141	−22
Ukraine	9	9	0	0	100.00%	281	63	+218
United States	6	3	3	0	50.00%	117	146	−29
Uruguay	6	4	2	0	66.7%	118	79	+39
Wales	3	0	3	0	0.00%	20	74	−54
Zimbabwe	3	2	1	0	66.67%	58	35	+23
Total	241	148	86	7	61.41%	5673	4387	+1286

Georgia has competed in four Rugby World Cup tournaments. Their first appearance was in 2003 when they were placed in Pool C with England, South Africa, Uruguay and Samoa. In 2007 Georgia recorded their first win in the Rugby World Cup with a 30–0 win over Namibia in their Pool D match at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. The Lelos best performance was in 2015, where they finished third in a group for the first time. Georgia have to date won four World Cup matches and lost twelve.

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Part of USSR: Not an independent country								-
1991	Part of USSR: Not an independent country								Part of USSR: Not an independent country
1995	Did not qualify								2	0	0	2	15	38
1999									8	4	0	4	131	221
2003	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	46	200		2	1	0	1	31	76
2007	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	50	111		14	10	1	3	426	182
2011	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	48	90		10	8	1	1	326	132
2015	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	53	123		10	9	1	0	286	106
2019	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	65	122		Automatically Qualified
2023
Total	5/9	20	5	0	15	262	646		46	32	3	11	1215	755

Georgia compete annually in the Rugby Europe Championship (previously named European Nations Cup). They have won the tournament twelve times in 2001, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020

ENC champions

Results correct up until 18 March 2018

The Antim Cup is contested between Georgia and Romania each time the teams meet in a senior international match other than World Cup matches or qualifiers. The holder retains the cup unless the challenger wins the match, and there is no extra time in case of a draw. It is named after the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Anthim the Iberian, who came from Georgia.

Georgia's 35-man squad for the Autumn Nations Cup.

• Head coach: Levan Maisashvili
  • High Performance consultant: David Humphreys
  • Forwards coach: Sebastien Bruno
  • Backs coach: Neil Doak
  • High Performance advisor: Calvin Morriss

Caps updated: 22 November

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Jaba Bregvadze	Hooker	(1987-04-23) 23 April 1987	60	Unattached
Giorgi Chkoidze	Hooker	(1991-05-17) 17 May 1991	12	Locomotiv Penza
Shalva Mamukashvili	Hooker	(1990-10-02) 2 October 1990	76	Leicester
Beka Gigashvili	Prop	(1992-02-17) 17 February 1992	16	Toulon
Guram Gogichashvili	Prop	(1998-09-04) 4 September 1998	17	Racing 92
Lekso Kaulashvili	Prop	(1992-08-27) 27 August 1992	3	Bordeaux
Giorgi Melikidze	Prop	(1996-06-24) 24 June 1996	20	Stade Français
Mikheil Nariashvili	Prop	(1990-05-25) 25 May 1990	64	Montpellier
Lasha Jaiani	Lock	(1998-04-21) 21 April 1998	4	Wasps
Giorgi Javakhia	Lock	(1996-09-24) 24 September 1996	3	Aurillac
Grigor Kerdikoshvili	Lock	(1994-11-15) 15 November 1994	4	Lelo Saracens
Kote Mikautadze	Lock	(1991-07-01) 1 July 1991	65	Bayonne
Nodar Tcheishvili	Lock	(1990-11-13) 13 November 1990	26	AIA Kutaisi
Mikheil Gachechiladze	Back row	(1990-12-24) 24 December 1990	10	Enisei-STM
Otar Giorgadze	Back row	(1996-03-02) 2 March 1996	28	Brive
Beka Gorgadze	Back row	(1996-02-08) 8 February 1996	31	Bordeaux
Tornike Jalaghonia	Back row	(1998-12-12) 12 December 1998	2	Biarritz
Beka Saghinadze	Back row	(1998-10-29) 29 October 1998	15	Aurillac
Giorgi Tkhilaishvili	Back row	(1991-04-08) 8 April 1991	60	Batumi RC
Mikheil Alania	Scrum-half	(2000-11-19) 19 November 2000	1	Aurillac
Gela Aprasidze	Scrum-half	(1998-01-14) 14 January 1998	28	Montpellier
Vasil Lobzhanidze	Scrum-half	(1996-10-14) 14 October 1996	54	Brive
Tedo Abzhandadze	Fly-half	(1999-06-13) 13 June 1999	18	Brive
Lasha Khmaladze	Fly-half	(1988-01-20) 20 January 1988	85	Batumi RC
Luka Matkava	Fly-half	(1999-11-30) 30 November 1999	0	Armazi
Giorgi Kveseladze	Centre	(1997-11-11) 11 November 1997	27	Gloucester
Mirian Modebadze	Centre	(1997-10-27) 27 October 1997	13	AIA Kutaisi
Merab Sharikadze (c)	Centre	(1993-05-17) 17 May 1993	69	Unattached
Demur Tapladze	Centre	(2000-03-18) 18 March 2000	4	Lelo Saracens
Tamaz Mchedlidze	Wing	(1993-03-17) 17 March 1993	59	Rouen
Sandro Svanidze	Wing	(1998-10-27) 27 October 1998	1	Armazi
Akaki Tabutsadze	Wing	(1997-08-18) 18 August 1997	5	Lelo Saracens
Alexander Todua	Wing	(1987-11-02) 2 November 1987	88	Batumi RC
Soso Matiashvili	Fullback	(1993-01-27) 27 January 1993	28	Academy
Davit Niniashvili	Fullback	(2002-07-14) 14 July 2002	2	Khvamli

Players called up to the Georgia senior team in the past two years.

Caps updated: 27 January 2020

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Badri Alkhazashvili	Hooker	(1995-07-31) 31 July 1995	9	Brive
Luka Azariashvili	Prop	(1999-11-30) 30 November 1999	0	Biarritz
Levan Chilachava	Prop	(1991-08-17) 17 August 1991	54	Unattached
Zurab Zhvania	Prop	(1991-09-23) 23 September 1991	40	Wasps
Karlen Asieshvili	Prop	(1987-04-21) 21 April 1987	35	Rouen
Tornike Mataradze	Prop	(1996-10-19) 19 October 1996	8	Nevers
Davit Gigauri	Lock	(1994-04-03) 3 April 1994	6	Tarbes
Lasha Lomidze	Lock	(1992-06-30) 30 June 1992	47	Dax
Ioane Iashaghashvili	Back row	(2000-11-26) 26 November 2000	0	Bayonne
Giorgi Margalitadze	Scrum-half	(2000-11-30) 30 November 2000	0	Lelo Saracens
Zurab Dzneladze	Wing	(1992-01-23) 23 January 1992	11	AIA Kutaisi

Ilia Zedginidze

• Ilia Zedginidze – Played as a Number 8 and was a lineout specialist. A member of their inaugural World Cup side in 2003, he captained Georgia in the 2007 tournament, but was forced out of the squad because of an injury. This injury ultimately led to him announcing his retirement from international rugby, after gaining 48 caps. He returned to the squad in late 2008, playing against Scotland A and taking part in the 2009 European Nations Cup, where he scored a game-saving try against Portugal on 14 February 2009.
• Malkhaz Urjukashvili – Moved to France, where he has been playing. He is one of the best players and scorers for Georgia, holding currently 65 caps for his National Team, with 18 tries and 300 points. His first match was a 29–15 win over Croatia, in Tbilisi, at 12 October 1997, aged only 17 years old. This made him one of the youngest players ever to be capped at international rugby level. He was present at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, playing three matches and scoring 9 points. In the game against England, he kicked a long range penalty that registered as Georgia's first Rugby World Cup points (England eventually won the game 84–6). He was called once again for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, playing in all the four matches and scoring one conversion. He continued to be a valuable player in the 2011 Rugby World Cup qualification, the third Georgia gained in a row.

Mamuka Gorgodze

• Mamuka Gorgodze – Switched to rugby from basketball aged 17. His first club was Lelo in the Georgian Top League, he was soon selected for the Georgia national team and made his debut in 2003 against Spain, at the age of just 18 and not long after he started playing rugby. However he was not selected for Georgia's first appearance at the 2003 Rugby World Cup later that year. In 2004 he became a regular fixture for the Georgia side. He was a regular in the Georgia side though and was selected for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and started three of Georgia's four matches at the World Cup, being one of Georgia's star players. Gorgodze became a success as flanker during this season, and halfway through the season French newspaper L'Équipe commented that he improved his technique and became a mobile and unstoppable player. Gorgodze played a big role in Montpellier finishing the 2010–11 Top 14 season as runners up.[5] At the end of the season L'Équipe named him as the best foreigner in the league. He was selected for the Georgia squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and played all the Georgia matches, being named man of the match in two matches, against England and Romania.