The Black Lion ( Georgian: ''Shavi Lomi'') is a professional Georgian rugby union team based in Tbilisi that competes annually in the

Rugby Europe Super Cup The Rugby Europe Super Cup is an annual men's rugby union club tournament organised by the continental governing body, Rugby Europe. Featuring clubs outside the traditional Six Nations strongholds of the sport, it effectively forms a third tier ...

. They also competed in the

Currie Cup First Division Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Ed ...

in South Africa in 2022. Black Lion will compete in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

, the second tier of European club rugby, during the 2023-24 season as an invited team along with Cheetahs.

History

The franchise was created in 2021 to participate in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. It is owned by the Georgian Federation, which employs the players. All the players are without clubs or playing in the Georgia league (

Didi 10 The Didi 10 (, "Big 10") is a semi-professional domestic rugby union club competition in Georgia. It is the top tier of rugby competitions in the country. Current Table 2018–19 Didi 10 season: List of Champions Teams 2019-20 Didi 10 ( ...

). Players are made available to Didi 10 clubs when they have no obligations with their franchise, up to a limit of 4 per club. Georgian club joins into

since 2022. In Spring 2023, Black Lion toured South America, playing against the professional sides featuring in

Super Rugby Americas Super Rugby Americas (SRA) will be the new franchise rugby tournament format in America, and the first season will begin on February 18, 2023 after efforts by World Rugby. It will be organized and led by Sudamérica Rugby, the highest rugby en ...

. They defeated the club sides they faced, but were narrowly defeated 28-24 by a South America XV squad in Montevideo. In June 2023, Black Lion applied to take part in the

, the second tier of European club Rugby. On July 6, 2023, it was announced that their application was successful and will participate in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

for the 2023-24 season as one of two invited teams. Black Lion will be the first Georgian rugby team to ever play in the Challenge Cup tournament. On 15 December 2023 Black Lion won their first match in the competition, defeating Welsh hosts Scarlets.

Name

The name of the franchise has several inspirations. The players of the national team are sometimes nicknamed the lions, in reference to an (unofficial) anthem of the national team, which says: "freedom is the property of the lions". Also this is similar to the Georgian Rugby Union's slogan, "Freedom is a lion's destiny". The second inspiration comes from Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani, one of whose most famous works is the painting ''Black Lion''. The club logo is a reinterpretation of the lion's face in a style reminiscent of a fusion of the

Georgian letters The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written hor ...

შ (''shini'') and ლ (''lasi''), the initials of the club's name, in the unique typeface of the

Georgian alphabet The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written hor ...

Honors

**''Winners'':

2021-22 Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Current squad

The Black Lions squad for

2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 28th ...

is:

Coaches

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff for the Black Lion team:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Lion Rugby union teams in Georgia (country) Rugby clubs established in 2021 Sport in Tbilisi Rugby Europe Super Cup 2021 establishments in Georgia (country)