Soviet era There were several unsuccessful attempts to introduce 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
Marseille 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 15 October 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,
while still a Soviet republic. 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.
1990s On 9 April 1991 Georgia
declared independence from the Soviet Union. Georgia was now a rugby union nation but getting matches was not easy:
Commonwealth of Independent States, which Georgia did not join, was the successor team of the Soviet Union and played matches in 1992. 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
Nukualofa before a 28–27 win in Tbilisi. This was not enough and Georgia failed to qualify.
2000s: World Cup play during the
Rugby World Cup 2003 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. 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 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. 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. 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 a 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.
2010–2019 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. their third win in a World Cup match. Georgia lost their second match against Argentina 9–54, after trailing 14–9 at half-time. 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 All Blacks, trailing the world champions 22–10. In the last match Georgia defeated Namibia 17–16 to finish third, their highest in a world cup, and securing their qualification for
2019 Rugby World Cup at the same time. in 2014 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.
2019 World Cup Georgia approached the 2019 World Cup with confidence and it had just won three of the four European Nations Championship, with a squad that combined youth (Abzhandadze, Kveseladze) and experience (Mamukashvili, Chilachava, Bregvadze). The Georgian federation aimed to reproduce the same performance as in 2015 by finishing third in the group. However, Georgia inherited a strong field made up of Australia, Wales, Fiji and Uruguay. On 23 September, the Lelos began the competition by facing Wales with a 43–14 for the British. Six days later, Uruguay faced the Georgians, four days after the South Americans beat the Fijians 30–27. Final score for the Lelos 33–7. Georgia then met Fiji, their rival for third place which means automatic qualification for 2023 in a 10–45 match for the islanders where we will see 3/4 Georgians. Georgia ended up with an honorable 27–8 defeat against the already qualified Australians. The results were disappointing for the Georgians. The team finished fourth behind Fiji and were forced to go through the qualification box for 2023. During this Cup, Georgia showed progress but still lacked organization from an offensive point of view, individual and collective quality for three quarters, and often breaks down during the hour of play on a physical level.
2020–2023 with the Georgian team after their historic win against Italy in
Batumi, 2022 In this post-World Cup year, Georgia faced two significant changes. Milton Haig, who left after a positive record, had been replaced by his deputy Levan Maisashvili. Additionally, the squad had to undergo a renewal process following the retirement of key players such as Mamukashvili, Begadze, and Malaguradze. On 1 February, Georgia clashed with their Romanian rivals in the 2020 European Nations Championship, concluding with a 41–13 victory for the Lelos. Subsequent matches included a 10–23 loss to the Spaniards, a dominant 78–6 victory against the Belgians, and a close 24–39 battle against Portugal. Despite their promising performance, the Lelos' journey in the competition was abruptly halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In October, the Georgian federation received an invitation to participate in the
Autumn Nations Cup, which brought together the six teams from the Six Nations Tournament, Fiji, and Georgia. Placed in a pool with England, Ireland, and Wales, the Georgians finished last in the competition after conceding a classification match against Fiji. In July 2022, Georgia beat a Tier 1 nation for the first time, Italy, 28–19.In November 2022, Georgia beat Wales 13–12 in Cardiff. During the European Rugby Championship 2023, Georgia again dominated its opponents and clinched the 15th title.
2023 World Cup During the 2023 Rugby World Cup Georgia dramatically underperformed expectations. Playing in a pool lacking one of the four tournament favourites, but notable for strength in depth, Georgia aimed to cause an upset against one of the three tier one sides and guarantee automatic qualification for 2027. They came last in their pool having not won a game, despite some relatively strong showings. They got off to a rocky start with a 35–15 loss to Australia on 9 September; though they had not expected to win, it was thought they might put up a better fight. Next, more concerningly, on 23 September they drew with the only other Tier two team in the pool, Portugal by a score of 18–18 in a match they were expected to win; 7 days later they put up a strong fight against Fiji but were eventually defeated 17–12 before finishing on 7 October getting beaten by Wales 43–19. A shock victory for Portugal against Fiji condemned Georgia to fifth place in the pool, although the extension of the 2027 World Cup to 24 teams announced shortly afterwards relieved some of the concerns for future qualification. Georgia returned to form, however, in the following Rugby Europe International championship, once more winning the second-tier competition convincingly.
2024–Present Georgia started 2024 by winning the
2024 Rugby Europe Championship, their 16th title. After beating the
Netherlands in the
2025 Rugby Europe Championship, Georgia qualified for the
2027 Men's Rugby World Cup. In March 2026, six of the team's players were suspended by
WADA and
World Rugby for doping, with WADA also finding collusion between the
Georgian Anti-Doping Agency and members of team staff. ==Lelo==