Georgia’s first rugby franchise to make history by featuring in EPCR Challenge Cup
Georgian Rugby and EPCR engaged in year-long talks before the EPCR administration selected Black Lion for invitation to the competition that involves recognised European teams. Photo: rugby.ge
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Black Lion, the first Georgian professional rugby franchise, will make history by featuring in the European Professional Club Rugby’s Challenge Cup, an annual competition scheduled to begin in December.
The club will compete in Pool 3 against Castres Olympique and Scarlets, as well as Gloucester Rugby and ASM Clermont Auvergne - two former champions - with two home matches to be hosted in Georgia's capital Tbilisi.
The Georgians are coming ????
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) July 6, 2023
Welcome to #ChallengeCupRugby @BlackLionRugby ????????
Along with... pic.twitter.com/iZkAyFgoIv
Georgian Rugby and EPCR engaged in year-long talks before the EPCR administration selected Black Lion for invitation to the competition that involves recognised European teams.
The club was established at the initiative of the national governing body, in a move seeking to bring the contemporary franchise model of club rugby to the country.
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Residents of two villages in Georgia’s west on Sunday hosted a match of leloburti, a traditional Georgian sport similar to rugby, to mark the Easter holiday, with foreign visitors and media invited to follow the contest.
Five players of the Georgian national rugby team have been selected in Rugby Europe’s Team of the Men's Championship following the closing of the most recent season of the competition.
The bi-weekly French rugby newspaper Midi Olympique on Monday named Davit Niniashvili, a full-back of the Georgian national team and winger for Lyon OU, as the rookie of the past season and awarded him the Midi Olympique Oscar prize.
Georgian national rugby team on Sunday claimed their latest Rugby Europe Championship title following an impressive 38-11 win over Portugal in the Spanish city of Badajoz.
Georgia’s national rugby team records a historic win over a Tier 1 squad in an away game, defeating Wales on Saturday in the third November test match at the Principality stadium in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.
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.
Animation tells history of Georgian rugby (VIDEO)
Did you know the roots of Georgian rugby can be traced back thousands of years to a local game remarkably similar to the modern sport?
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