Former South Africa, Italy rugby coach supports Georgia's involvement in Six Nations

Nick Mallett, the former coach for South African and Italian national rugby teams, has criticised the latest rejection of chances for Georgia to enter the Six Nations tournament and declared there should be a discussion about letting the Lelos have more chances to compete against top-tier teams in Europe.

Mallett was responding to a comment by Six Nations chief executive John Feehan, who said it was not the role of the competition "to develop other nations", in reaction to ongoing calls for the tournament to adopt a relegation and promotion rule and thus allow improving national squads like Georgia to test themselves against the continental elite.

The latest such suggestions followed Georgia's advancement in the World Rugby Rankings in the recent weeks and the team's 18th Rugby Europe Championship title since 2001, formally achieved earlier this month with their win against Russia in Tbilisi.

World rugby has to be about wider participation, finding an avenue for those teams [like Georgia] to compete at the higher level, rather than casting one out to bring one in" - Nick Mallett

Mallett told express.co.uk his solution for supporting ambitious teams like Georgia and Romania - who do not get many opportunities to play top sides throughout their annual calendar - was to discuss "how we allow Georgia, or Romania or whoever is ready, into the competition rather than kick one out" through the relegation and promotion system.

[I]n Georgia, rugby and wrestling are the national sports. Go to Tbilisi and 50,000 people turn out. When they play against Russia it’s like a war zone. They are very passionate" - Nick Mallett

Squads like the Lelos can't improve through a single test match against a top-flying national side while regularly overcoming opposing teams in their usual competitions, the coach who led Italy for four years until the 2011 World Cup added.

Mallett also shared his impressions of the passion for rugby in Georgia - which many have called the new national sport in the country on the back of the Lelos' successes over the past decade or longer - as another reason to support increased opportunities for the side's annual fixture calendar.

Georgian national team's international supporters, media outlets and officials have called for opening up Six Nations for participation in some form for years, with their voices supported by the team's results in World Cup tournaments and test games in recent times.