Georgia to play World Rugby Champions South Africa, host Scotland in summer tests
The Lelos will take on Tier 1 opposition in three summer tests for the first time. Image via Georgia Rugby Union.
Tweet 
Share
Georgia's national rugby team will play three matches against two of the major sides of the sport in the space of two weeks this summer, with the Lelos set to travel to South Africa for two test games against the current World Champions before hosting Scotland in Tbilisi.
The three-game series will mark the first time the Georgian team have faced Tier 1 opposition in three summer matches, providing a rare opportunity for head coach Levan Maisashvili's squad to have practice of playing opposition from the leading pack of national teams from around the world.
The Lelos will be in South Africa to measure their skills against the 2019 Rugby World Cup winners in two games on July 3 and 10, competing with the Springboks for the first time outside the tournament.
#Excited for July Schedule, which promises a veery hot summer for #GeorgianRugby ????#TheLelos to play 2 tests against World ????’s @Springboks in RSA & host @Scotlandteam in #Georgia
— Georgian Rugby (@GeorgianRugby) May 10, 2021
???????? vs ???????? | 3/7 | ???????? vs ???????? | 10/7 | ???????? vs ???????????????????????????? | 17/7
Read more here➡️ https://t.co/R3Voi2rwXO pic.twitter.com/SpwtYh9CfP
Postponed from its initial date last year due to Covid-19 restrictions, the international test game will now go ahead and mark the first time the two teams have met after the 2003 World Cup, Georgia's debut on the stage. For the South Africans, the two fixtures will be their first games after the 2019 competition.
Lasha Khurtsidze, Georgia Rugby Union Vice President for High Performance and Development, said the arrangement of the two test games was an outcome of close friendship between the two unions, and called South Africa an "important contributor to development of Georgian rugby".
Playing against [the Springboks] is a great honor for us! We have only played South Africa once, on our first Rugby World Cup appearance back in 2003, when we scored the first try at the global rugby forum. A lot of time has passed since then.
- Lasha Khurtsidze, Vice President for High Performance and Development of Georgia Rugby Union
Maisashvili's team will be back in Tbilisi to host Scotland only seven days later, marking the final fixture of the summer test series. The Georgian side last faced their Scottish counterparts ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
The scheduled match against Scotland has been called a "huge event" by Nika Alavidze, Vice President of the Georgia Rugby Union, while Maisashvili said he was hopeful to see his squad "apply the lessons" from previous games against major opposition in the upcoming summer tests.
The Georgian national rugby team has lost to England in Eight Nations, a new competition designed to replace autumn test matches. Although Georgian Lelos didn't score any points 'against a very strong position', they hope to improve from game to game.
Georgia's national rugby team will face Scotland and Russia in three summer test games, two of them in Tbilisi, before Milton Haig's team departs for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Japan in September.
Georgia's national rugby team will face Rugby World Cup champions South Africa next year in what has been dubbed a "historic" test match by Georgia Rugby Union.
The Georgian national rugby team will have to wait for their first test game against world champions South Africa after the World Rugby governing body's postponement of games previously scheduled for July.
The closing matchday and title deciders of Didi 10, Georgia's national rugby league, have been postponed after referees of the championship refused to take to the field in protest of a long-standing issue of abuse from players and teams, as the Georgia Rugby Union announced it was tackling the problem ahead of next season.
The Georgian national rugby team will wear kits highlighting United Nations Women organisation's campaign on ending violence against women in their upcoming summer test games against Scotland and World Rugby Champions South Africa.
The Georgian national rugby team has won the Rugby Europe Championship 2021 after defeating the Netherlands in the eastern Georgian town of Telavi today. This is the fifth victory for Georgia at the championship, which also serves as the qualifying tournament for the Rugby World Cup France 2023.
The coaching staff of the Georgian national rugby team has revealed the 23 players travelling to South Africa to face the current world champions in two test games starting this week.
The Georgian national rugby team will not play Scotland in Tbilisi next week after Covid tests returned positive results for a number of squad players and head coach Levan Maisashvili.
Levan Maisashvili, the head coach of the Georgian national rugby team, is in "severe" condition in a Johannesburg hospital with Covid-19, South African and Russian news outlets have reported.
Georgia will participate in the Rugby World Cup competition for the sixth time since 2003, after the national team became the 15th squad to qualify for the 2023 competition that will take place in France, the Georgian Rugby Union announced on Thursday.
Georgia’s national rugby team defeated their Spanish counterparts 49:15 and claimed Rugby Europe championship for the 14th time at Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi on Sunday.
The Georgian national rugby team’s test match triumph over Italy, which marked the Lelos’ first-ever win against a Tier 1 nation last week in Georgia’s Black Sea city of Batumi, has attracted the attention of international sports publications.