The Antim Cup ( ka, ანთიმოზ ივერიელის თასი, tr; ro, Cupa Antim Ivireanul) is contested between the
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
teams of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
(The Oaks) and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
("The Lelos"). It is named after the
Metropolitan of Wallachia Anthim the Iberian
Anthim the Iberian (Romanian: ''Antim Ivireanul'', Georgian: ანთიმოზ ივერიელი – ''Antimoz Iverieli''; secular name: ''Andria''; 1650 — September or October 1716) was a Georgian theologian, scholar, calligrap ...
, who was originally a
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
.
The Antim Cup is contested each time Georgia and Romania meet in a senior international match other than World Cup matches. The holder retains the cup unless the challenger wins the match in normal time.
History
There was a motion from the Georgia Rugby Union just before the 2000 European Nations Cup decider in
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
, to establish a challenge cup along the lines of the
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
and
Bledisloe Cup
The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...
s to be annually played for between the ''Oaks'' and the ''Lelos''.
It was decided that the cup should be named after Antimoz Iverieli (Georgian version) – Antim Ivireanul (Romanian version) (c. 1650–1716). The Rugby Supporters' League (RML) of Georgia approached the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia,
Ilia II
Ilia may refer to:
Science and medicine
*''Apatura ilia'' or lesser purple emperor, a butterfly
*Ilium (bone) (plural: "ilia"), pelvic bone
People
* Ilia (name), numerous
**Ilia II
Ilia may refer to:
Science and medicine
*''Apatura ilia'' or ...
through influential go-betweens and received his blessing for the use of the name 'Antim'.
The trophy was made by Georgian sculptor and former rugby union player
Gia Japaridze
''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth M ...
, who cast the cup in gilded
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
.
The current holder is Georgia, who defeated Romania 26–23 on 12 March 2022 in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
.
Previous winners
Summary
Honours
* (15): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
* (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2017
See also
*
History of rugby union matches between Georgia and Romania Georgia and Romania have played each other on 27 occasions. Georgia have won 17 times, Romania 9 times and 1 match has been drawn. They regularly play each other in the Rugby Europe Championship (previously named European Nations Cup).
The first m ...
*
Kiseleff Cup
The Kiseleff Cup is contested between the rugby union teams of Romania (The Oaks) and Russia (The Bears). The cup is named after the Count Pavel Kiselyov, a Russian who influenced the first ever constitutions to being signed in both Wallachia an ...
References
External links
Trophies from rugbyfootballhistory.com*
{{Romania national rugby union team
Georgia national rugby union team
Romania national rugby union team
Georgia (country)–Romania relations
Rugby union international rivalry trophies
International rugby union competitions hosted by Georgia (country)
International rugby union competitions hosted by Romania
2002 establishments in Romania
2002 establishments in Georgia (country)