Covid positives see Lelos' rugby test against Scotland cancelled
The test against Scotland was anticipated as a rare opportunity for the Lelos to face tier 1 opposition. Image via Georgia Rugby Union.
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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.
Georgia Rugby Union revealed on Friday the game against the Scots, initially planned for July 17, would not go ahead as planned due to the eight-day self-isolation rule after returning to Georgia from South Africa, where they faced the World Rugby Champions on July 2.
The Lelos' second planned match against the Springboks on July 9 was subsequently cancelled due to positive Covid tests among both squads, placing the Scotland game in question as well.
The upcoming summer Test against @GeorgianRugby has been cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Georgian squad.
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) July 9, 2021
The Scotland team had safely returned to graduated training this week, but players will today be released back to their respective clubs.
The Union said Maisashvili's team would be prevented from training and preparing for the July 17 match due to self-isolation, meaning the planned test - much anticipated as another opportunity for the Georgian team to face a tier 1 opponent - was cancelled.
Vice-president Bacho Khurtsidze said the Georgian squad was "very unlucky" with three earlier positives, compounded by three more infections two days later. The national body official added there was a risk of other players also having picked up the virus but not yet displaying the signs.
Khurtsidze also revealed the Union wanted to postpone the Scotland fixture by a week, however the date conflicted with the World Rugby window for international tests.
The Union will now switch to preparations for games involving Black Lion, the first Georgian rugby franchise club set to play matches in the new European competition Rugby Europe Super Cup in September, as well as national team fixtures afterwards.
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 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 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.
Georgia's Nika Amashukeli will make history next month by becoming the first referee from a Tier 2 rugby country to judge a game between Tier 1 teams, when he takes to the field at Principality Stadium in Cardiff for a fixture between Wales and Canada.
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.
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.
Georgia has reported 659 new cases of coronavirus, 713 recoveries and 16 deaths in the past 24 hours. In total, 14,200 tests have been conducted around the country of which 6,608 tests were rapid tests, while the remaining 7,592 were PCR tests.
Georgia has reported 1,862 new cases of coronavirus, 619 recoveries and 11 deaths in the past 24 hours. In total, 35,117 tests have been conducted around the country of which 20,996 tests were rapid tests, while the remaining 14,121 were PCR tests. Since February 26, 2020 Georgia has had 379,673 cases of coronavirus, 360,558 recoveries and 5,479 deaths.
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.
The health condition of the Georgian national rugby team head coach Levan Maisashvili is still critically severe due to Covid-19 complications, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has posted on Facebook today. Georgia Rugby Union confirmed the information about Maisashvili’s critical condition in the middle of July. Salome Zurabishvili announced that Maisashvili has not had any additional complications in the last two days, although he had all the possible complications before.