The Georgia national rugby league team represented

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 ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

football. It played its first international game in 2005. The Georgian team play in a red jersey with a white cross on the front. Before a match, they performed their own "

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

", called the Perkhuli (meaning "footwork").

History

The history of rugby league in Georgia began in 1991 when a Georgian player was recruited by a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n rugby league club. In 1993 a rural Georgian

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 ...

club team defected to the

Russian Rugby League Russian Rugby League Federation (russian: Федерация Регбилиг России) was the governing body for rugby league in Russia until 2010. It was founded in 1978 mainly as a governing body for Moscow-based teams, and became the head ...

; the club and all of its players were banned from playing rugby union for life. In 2004 Paata Tsintsadze established rugby league in Georgia, with the backing of the

Rugby League European Federation The European Rugby League (ERL) is the umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across Europe. In the absence of other continental federations, ERL also controls rugby league in North America (including Central America ...

. In June 2004 the Georgia Rugby League (GRL) was incorporated, and recognised by the State Sports Ministry. Nodar Andghuladze was the first Chief Executive Officer and David Kilassonia the coaching manager. Soon after rugby union clubs ''Locomotivi'' (Railways RC) and ''Hooligana RC'' joined the GRL, alongside a third club, the newly founded ''Raindebi'' (Knights). Georgia played its first international match on April 29, 2005 against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. Most of the Georgian team were primarily rugby union players, several playing their first organised match of rugby league. The first international match on Georgian soil took place on July 24, 2005 at Dynamo Stadium,

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 ...

. In that match Georgia defeated

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

44–12 in front of 8000 spectators. After winning a position to compete in the 2005 European Nations Cup, Georgia performed admirably against

, going down 48 to 14. After the defeat, Georgia took on six-time European Champions

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, going down 60 to nil, in a rain soaked

Vake Stadium Vake may refer to: * Vake District in Tbilisi, Georgia * Vake, Tbilisi, a neighbourhood in Tbilisi * Vake Park, a park in Tbilisi * Vake (Gagra District), a village in Abkhazia, Georgia * VAKE, the ICAO code for Kandla Airport Kandla Airport ...

in Georgia.

2008 World Cup Qualifying

In 2006, Georgia defeated the

and

in the first round of World Cup Qualifying and thereby qualified to participate in the second round with Scotland and Wales. The winner of that pool would qualify for the 2008 World Cup, with the runner up entering the Repecharge round. However, their final first round fixture against Russia was abandoned after the Georgian team had their visa applications rejected. A subsequent investigation discovered that Georgia had actually forfeited the match because their players were representing ''the rugby union team''. Georgia were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, ejected from the competition and banned from RLIF events for two years; Russia were awarded the fixture 24–0. Rugby league has not been played in Georgia since, and no plans are in place to resume competition.

Results

''For matches played by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

, see

Russia national rugby league team The Russia national rugby league team (also known as The Bears) represent Russia in international rugby league tournaments and other rugby league fixtures. The Bears, played their first fixtures against two British club sides: York Wasps and Ful ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia National Rugby League Team National rugby league teams National sports teams of Georgia (country) * Rugby league in Georgia (country)

History

2008 World Cup Qualifying

Results

See also

References

External links