Six Nations organisers propose Georgia as host for rugby tournament’s U18 festival

Top officials of the Six Nations rugby tournament have proposed Georgia as host country for a future edition of the Under-18 Rugby Festival of the competition, the Georgian rugby federation said on Thursday.

CEO Benjamin Morell and director Julie Paterson have voiced the initiative at a meeting with Georgian rugby union president Soso Tkemaladze, following the historic win of Georgia’s senior team over Wales last week, with discussions revealing the prospective competition would also involve the Georgian U18 team.

Morell and Paterson praised the Georgian national rugby team’s performance and said they were ready to support further development of the sport in the country on the heels of "unprecedented results" achieved by it in recent years.

In addition to hosting the junior tournament in Georgia, the officials also raised the possibility of Georgian marketing managers being offered an experience-gaining opportunity of becoming involved in broadcasting the senior Six Nations competition.

Bill Sweeney, chief executive officer at Rugby Football Union, also called for more cooperation between English and Georgian rugby bodies. The parties agreed to exchange official visits, with Sweeney promising the English market would be “wide open” for Georgian rugby players, “even more than the French rugby market is currently open to them”.

Georgia’s national rugby team recorded a historic win over a Tier 1 squad with the win over Wales at the Principality stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.