Georgia national rugby league team

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GeorgiaTeam information

Nickname| 13 Georgians
Governing body| Georgia Rugby League
Region| Europe
Most caps| Giorgi Assatiani (6)
Aleksandre Guilauri (6)
Top try-scorers| Lexo Gugava (4)
Merab Kvirikashvili (4)
Top point-scorer| Merab Kvirikashvili (46)
Uniforms

First colours

Team results
First international
Netherlands 14–34 Georgia
(Rotterdam, Netherlands; 29 April 2005)
Biggest win
Georgia 57–16 Netherlands
(Tbilisi, Georgia; 26 May 2006)
Biggest defeat
France 60–0 Georgia
(Tbilisi, Georgia; 30 October 2005)
World Cup
Appearances| 0

The Georgia national rugby league team represented Georgia in rugby league football. It played its first international game in 2005.[1] The Georgian team play in a red jersey with a white cross on the front. Before a match, they performed their own "haka", called the Perkhuli (meaning "footwork").

## History

[edit]

The history of rugby league in Georgia began in 1991 when a Georgian player was recruited by a Russian rugby league club. In 1993 a rural Georgian rugby union club team defected to the Russian Rugby League; the club and all of its players were banned from playing rugby union for life.[citation needed]

In 2004 Paata Tsintsadze established rugby league in Georgia, with the backing of the Rugby League European Federation. 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 in Rotterdam. 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. In that match Georgia defeated Serbia 44–12 in front of 8000 spectators.

After winning a position to compete in the 2005 European Nations Cup, Georgia performed admirably against Russia, going down 48 to 14. After the defeat, Georgia took on six-time European Champions France, going down 60 to nil, in a rain soaked Vake Stadium in Georgia.

### 2008 World Cup Qualifying

[edit]

See also: 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying

In 2006, Georgia defeated the Netherlands and Serbia 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

[edit]

For matches played by the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States, see Russia national rugby league team

Date | Opponent | Score | Competition | Venue | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|

29 April 2005 |  Netherlands |

34 – 14

| 2005 European Nations Cup qualifying |  Hoekse Boys FC, Rotterdam |

327

24 July 2005 |  Serbia |

44 – 12

|  Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi |

8,000

23 October 2005 |  Russia |

14 – 48

| 2005 European Nations Cup |  Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow |

500

30 October 2005 |  France |

0 – 60

|  Vake Stadium, Tbilisi |

400

13 May 2006 |  Serbia |

45 – 10

| 2008 World Cup qualifying |  Radnički Stadium, Belgrade |
26 May 2006 |  Netherlands |

57 – 16

|  Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi |

10,935

22 June 2006 |  Russia |

0 – 24

|  |

## See also

[edit]

* Sports portal

* Rugby league in Georgia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Georgia's squad for the World Cup". 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2020-12-26.

## External links

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

International Rugby League

Members|

| Full|

* Australia
* Cook Islands
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Jamaica
* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Serbia
* South Africa
* Ukraine
* Wales

|

Affiliate|

* Brazil
* Cameroon
* Canada
* Chile
* Czech Republic
* Germany
* Ghana
* Greece
* Ireland
* Italy
* Kenya
* Lebanon
* Malta
* Morocco
* Netherlands
* Nigeria
* Norway
* Russia
* Scotland
* Turkey
* United States

Observer|

* Albania
* Argentina
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Burundi
* Colombia
* DR Congo
* El Salvador
* Hungary
* Japan
* Libya
* Montenegro
* North Macedonia
* Palestine
* Philippines
* Poland
* Sierra Leone
* Slovakia
* Solomon Islands
* Spain
* Sweden
* Vanuatu

Pending|

* Georgia

Former|

* Full
* Tonga
* Affiliate
* American Samoa
* Austria
* Estonia
* Ivory Coast
* Latvia
* New Caledonia
* Tokelau
* Observer
* Belgium
* Denmark
* Egypt
* Guyana
* Hong Kong
* India
* Mexico
* Namibia
* Niue
* Norfolk Island
* Pakistan
* Singapore
* Thailand
* Trinidad and Tobago

National teams|

| Men|

* Albania
* American Samoa
* Austria
* Argentina
* Australia
* Belgium
* Bosnia
* Brazil
* Bulgaria
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Cook Islands
* Czech Republic
* DR Congo
* Denmark
* Egypt
* El Salvador
* England
* Estonia
* Fiji
* France
* Germany
* Georgia
* Ghana
* Greece
* Guyana
* Hong Kong
* Hungary
* India
* Ireland
* Italy
* Ivory Coast
* Jamaica
* Japan
* Kenya
* Latvia
* Lebanon
* Libya
* Malta
* Mexico
* Montenegro
* Morocco
* Namibia
* Netherlands
* New Caledonia
* New Zealand
* Nigeria
* Niue
* Norfolk Island
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Pakistan
* Palestine
* Papua New Guinea
* Philippines
* Poland
* Russia
* Samoa
* Scotland
* Serbia
* Sierra Leone
* Singapore
* Slovakia
* Solomon Islands
* South Africa
* Spain
* Sweden
* Thailand
* Tokelau
* Tonga
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United States
* Vanuatu
* Wales

|

Women|

* Argentina
* Australia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Cook Islands
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Greece
* Ireland
* Italy
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Niue
* Papua New Guinea
* Philippines
* Samoa
* Serbia
* Tonga
* Turkey
* United States
* Wales

International
competitions|

* Men's World Cup
* Women's World Cup
* Tertiary Student Rugby League World Cup
* Four Nations
* Anzac Test
* Men' Ashes
* Women's Ashes
* Asian Cup
* Baskerville Shield
* European Championship
* European Championship B
* European Championship C
* European Championship D
* Griffin Cup
* Mediterranean Cup
* MEA Championships
* Americas Championship
* Pacific Cup
* Pacific Championships
* Saint Patrick's Day Test
* Peter Leitch QSM Challenge Trophy
* Colonial Cup
* Nordic Cup
* Milan Kosanovic Cup
* Balkans Cup

Awards and rankings|

* RLIF Awards
* World rankings
* men
* women
* wheelchair

* v
* t
* e

Rugby League European Federation

Members|

Full

England
France
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Lebanon
Russia
Serbia
South Africa
Ukraine
Wales

Affiliate

Cameroon
Canada
Czech Republic
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Malta
Morocco
Netherlands
Norway
Nigeria
Scotland
Spain
Turkey
United States

Observers

Albania
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Burundi
DR Congo
Denmark
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Hungary
Kenya
Latvia
Libya
Montenegro
North Macedonia
Palestine
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Sweden

Former Observers

Catalonia
Trinidad & Tobago
UAE

National teams|

* Albania
* Austria
* Bosnia
* Belgium
* Cameroon
* Catalonia
* Czech Republic
* England
* Estonia
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Ghana
* Greece
* Hungary
* Ireland
* Italy
* Jamaica
* Kenya
* Latvia
* Lebanon
* Malta
* Moldova
* Morocco
* Netherlands
* Nigeria
* Norway
* Portugal
* Russia
* Scotland
* Serbia
* South Africa
* Spain
* Sweden
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United States
* Wales

Competitions|

* European Championship
* European Championship B (second tier)
* European Championship C (third tier)
* European Championship D (fourth tier)
* Under-19 European Championship
* Euro Med Challenge (defunct)

* v
* t
* e

National sports teams of Georgia

Men|

* Baseball
* Basketball
* U-20
* U-18
* U-16
* Floorball
* U-19
* Football
* U-21
* U-19
* U-17
* Futsal
* Handball
* Ice hockey
* Rugby league
* Rugby union
* U-20
* U-18
* 7's
* Tennis
* Water polo

Women|

* Basketball
* U-20
* U-18
* U-16
* Floorball
* U-19
* Football
* Tennis
* Volleyball

Mixed|

* Badminton

* Olympic
* Paralympics
* European Games

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