Georgia national rugby union team
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| Union | Georgian Rugby Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lelos ბორჯღალოსნები | ||
| Emblem(s) | Crepuscular rays | ||
| Ground(s) | Boris Paichadze National Stadium | ||
| Coach(es) |  Milton Haig |
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| Captain(s) |  Irakli Abuseridze |
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| Most caps | Irakli Abuseridze (76) | ||
| Top scorer | Paliko Jimsheladze (320) | ||
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| First international | |||
Zimbabwe  3 – 16  Georgia(12 September 1989) |
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| Largest win | |||
Georgia 98 – 3  Czech Republic(8 April 2007) |
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| Largest defeat | |||
England  84 – 6 Georgia(12 October 2003) |
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| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 2003) | ||
| Best result | One Win, 2007, 2011 | ||
The Georgia national rugby union team represents Georgia in rugby union. The team's nickname, The Lelos, comes from lelo burti, a traditional Georgian sport with strong similarities to rugby. Lelo has been adopted as the Georgian word for "try" (the highest-valued score in rugby). One standard cheer of Georgian rugby union fans is Lelo, Lelo, Sakartvelo (Try, Try, Georgia).
Georgia is currently considered a second tier rugby union nation and is one of the worlds fastest growing rugby nation. The Lelos participate in the European Nations Cup, winning the tournament in 2001, 2007-08 and 2008-10 seasons. Famously the Georgians, lacking the resources of the major nations, made scrum machines from old Soviet tractors.[citation needed] The bulk of the national squad are based in France, in both the Top 14 and lower divisions. This is a practice that was popularized by former national team coach, Claude Saurel, a Frenchman, who later coached neighboring rivals Russia.
Rugby union is one of the most popular sports in Georgia. The Georgian national sevens team became the first national side from Georgia to compete in a major tournament, playing in the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Cup in Argentina. However, the full national team would go onto qualify for the 2003 Rugby World Cup - playing against rugby powers such as Ireland and France. In 2006 the Lelos qualified for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, they beat Namibia by 30-0 for their first ever World Cup win. As of 27 March 2011, Georgia are ranked 14th in the world by the IRB. They are the most likely new European nation candidate to promotion to the second tier of the IRB.
Georgia also has a Georgia A national rugby union team.
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[edit] History
[edit] Soviet era
There were unsuccessful attempts to introduce rugby union into Georgia in 1928 and also in 1940 and in 1948.
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 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.
[edit] 1990s
On April 9, 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 IRB 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 to the extent that it is now considered the country's most popular team sport, even ahead of football. Saurel went on to work with the 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.
[edit] 2000s
After France and Italy dropped from the reborn European Nations Cup, Georgia became a major force in the tournament. In the 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 2000/1 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 2001-2002 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.
[edit] World Cup years
The two nations would contest another match at the same venue in October 2002, 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. 45,000 turned out to the national stadium, with another one and a half million Georgians watching it on national television. Both nations kicked penalty goals in the first half, but Russia moved ahead with a 13–9 lead through a Konstantin Rachkov 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.[1]
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 held the Italians to 31–22. They 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 9–46 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.
The Barbarians beat Georgia 28–19 in Tbilisi on the 4 June 2006 in front of some 10,000 spectators. The Barbarians led 14–7 at half-time and the Lelos pulled back to 14-all early in the second half, but the Barbarians added two more tries before the Lelos got their third just before the end. Paliko Jimsheladze, playing as a fullback, became the first Georgian to win 50 caps. In recognition of this feat he was presented with a commemorative cap by Nodar Qipiani, the first captain of a Georgian national team. After the match the Barbarians presented £10,000 for the development of rugby union in Georgia.
In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Georgia performed strongly, holding Argentina 6-3 at half time, and in the next match did even better, losing to Ireland 14-10, which included a disallowed try, three missed drop goals, and spent the last 5 minutes just metres from the Irish line, allowing Ireland to scrape through. Georgia secured its first World Cup win with a convincing 30-0 victory over Namibia. Georgia's final try in the match came in injury time with an interception by Davit Kacharava.
[edit] Aftermath of the World Cup
In 2008, Georgia cemented its place at the top of the European hierarchy (beneath the Six Nations), and augmented its claim to be ranked the seventh best European national rugby union team, when it won, for the second time, the 2007-8 FIRA-AER European Nations Cup, with nine wins and a single loss, to perennial rival Romania, over a two-year campaign. Since there is no system of promotion and relegation between the Six Nations Tournament and the ENC, Georgia remains in Division One for the 2008–10 campaign.
[edit] 2011 World Cup
Georgia began their 2011 Rugby World Cup preparations with a two-match tour in France, the playing base of most of its World Cup player pool, against sides in the country's second-tier league, Pro D2. They won 28-24 against Stade Aurillac on 13th August, followed by a 28-15 win over CS Bourgoin-Jallieu on 19th August.
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Georgia were drawn in a very tough Pool B. The pool included 2007 silver medallists England, 2007 bronze medalists Argentina and 2007 quarter finalists Scotland, as well as local rivals Romania. Despite the close nature of their pool, Georgia were very impressive in all matches, including a tight match against Scotland which was lost 15-6 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.
[edit] Record
| Top 25 Rankings as of 6 February 2012[2] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
| 1 |  |
New Zealand |
91.43 |
| 2 | |
 Australia |
87.99 |
| 3 | |
 France |
84.70 |
| 4 | |
 South Africa |
84.34 |
| 5 | |
England |
82.34 |
| 6 |  |
 Wales |
81.01 |
| 7 | |
 Argentina |
80.28 |
| 8 |  |
 Ireland |
79.25 |
| 9 | |
 Tonga |
76.63 |
| 10 | |
 Samoa |
75.81 |
| 11 | |
 Scotland |
75.44 |
| 12 | |
 Italy |
73.99 |
| 13 | |
 Canada |
72.92 |
| 14 | |
Georgia |
71.09 |
| 15 | |
 Japan |
70.45 |
| 16 | |
 Fiji |
68.78 |
| 17 | |
 United States |
65.63 |
| 18 | |
 Romania |
63.98 |
| 19 | |
 Namibia |
61.24 |
| 20 | |
 Russia |
60.54 |
| 21 | |
 Uruguay |
60.47 |
| 22 | |
 Spain |
60.33 |
| 23 | |
 Chile |
59.52 |
| 24 | |
 Portugal |
59.30 |
| 25 | |
 Belgium |
57.02 |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
| Georgia's Historical Rankings | |||
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| Source: IRB - Graph updated to 23/01/2012[2] | |||
[edit] European Nations Cup
Georgia compete annually in the European Nations Cup. They won the tournament four times in 2001, 2007-08, 2009 and 2011.
| Year(s) | GP | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 125-95 | 8 | 2nd |
| 2001 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 167-68 | 15 | 1st |
| 2001-02 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 351-152 | 27 | 2nd |
| 2003-04 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 193-148 | 21 | 3rd |
| 2006-08 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 292-114 | 28 | 1st |
| 2008-10 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 326-132 | 27 | 1st |
| 2010-12 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 168-35 | 22 | 1st |
[edit] World Cup
| Year(s) | Result |
|---|---|
| 1987 | No qualifying tournament held. |
| 1991 to 1999 | Did not qualify. |
| 2003 | Qualified. Pool stages. |
| 2007 | Qualified. Pool stages. One Win. |
| 2011 | Qualified. Pool stages. One Win. |
[edit] Honours
- Antim Cup: 5
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- 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
- European Nations Cup Grand Slam: 2
[edit] Recent results
| Date | Tournament | Location | Venue | Home Team | Score | Away Team |
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Russia |
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Georgia |
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Romania |
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Portugal |
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 Ukraine |
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USA |
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Georgia |
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Canada |
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Georgia |
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Russia |
- Green background indicates a win. Red background indicates a loss.
[edit] Results to Russia
Georgian national rugby team has an outstanding series of results to the Russian Rugby team. Georgia and Russia have played 15 games from which Russia managed to win only once and one match ended in a draw.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Home Team | Score | Away Team |
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Russia |
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Georgia |
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Russia |
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Georgia |
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Georgia |
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Russia |
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Georgia |
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[edit] Overall record
Their Test match record against all nations, updated to 28 November 2010, is as follows:[3]
| Nation | Games | Won | Lost | Drawn | Percentage of wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Argentina Jaguars | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Barbarians | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 % |
 Bulgaria |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Canada |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| Chile |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
 Croatia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Czech Republic |
8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Denmark |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| England |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| France |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| France A | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Germany |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Ireland |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Ireland A | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Italy |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Italy A | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50% |
| Japan |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
 Kazakhstan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Latvia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Luxembourg |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
 Moldova |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Morocco |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Namibia |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75% |
 Netherlands |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75% |
 Poland |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Portugal |
15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 66.6% |
| Romania |
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 46.6% |
| Russia |
15 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 90% |
| Samoa |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Scotland A | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| South Africa |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| South Africa A | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 100% |
| Spain |
11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 77.2% |
 Switzerland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Tonga |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| Ukraine |
8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| United States |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| Uruguay |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Zimbabwe |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.6% |
| Total | 134 | 82 | 47 | 5 | 62.1% |
[edit] Current squad
30-man Georgia squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. [4]
Head Coach: Richie Dixon
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by the International Rugby Board.
[edit] Notable players
- Vasil Katsadze
- Ilia Zedguinidze
- Tedo Zibzibadze
- Malkhaz Urjukashvili
- Vano Nadiradze
- Levan Tsabadze
- Mamuka Gorgodze
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Georgia national rugby union team |
- Antim Cup
- Georgia at the Rugby World Cup
- European Nations Cup
- Rugby union in Georgia
- USSR national rugby union team
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
- ^ "When Georgia’s XV came of age". rwc2003.irb.com. http://www.rwc2003.irb.com/EN/RWC+History/Great+Moments/Georgia.htm. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
- ^ a b "World Rankings". International Rugby Board. http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html. Retrieved 09 February 2012.
- ^ RugbyData.com - International Rugby Union Statistics - Statistics for Georgia - Teams Played
- ^ "Georgia squad has French flavour". Planet Rugby. 2011-08-23. http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3818_7120209,00.html.
[edit] External links
- Georgia Rugby Union - Official Site
- Unofficial Georgian rugby union webpage
- Georgian rugby union news from Planet Rugby
- SOS kit aid
- World Cup Preview
- Exclusive attributes of Georgia Rugby
- Georgian Rugby Forum
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