Georgia National Rugby Union Team - Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The two nations would contest another match at the same venue in October 2002, in what was at the time one of the most important clashes ever between the two national sides. The victorious nation would head to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and the loser would be relegated to fight it out for a repechage position. Neither nation had ever been to a World Cup, though Georgia had come close in 1999. 45,000 turned out to the national stadium, with another one and a half million Georgians watching it on national television. Both nations kicked penalty goals in the first half, but Russia moved ahead with a 13–9 lead through a Konstantin Rachkov try, but Georgia were able to score a try of their own just before half time, with Levan Tsabadze putting them in front 14–13 at the break. Georgia held on, winning 17–13, a victory which sparked celebrations throughout the capital.

Three of the 75 French-based Georgian players were denied permission to play in the tournament and were suspended. Another five were sacked and arrived in Australia as free agents. In a warm-up game held in Asti the Georgians held the Italians to 31–22. They were grouped into pool C alongside giants - South Africa and England. They suffered their heaviest ever defeat when beaten by England 84–6 in their opening game. In their second match, Samoa comfortably eased to a 9–46 victory. Although they performed well against the Springboks (losing 46–19) they were disappointingly defeated by Uruguay 24–12, in a match that they were expected to win. They lost all four of their matches but had impressed against South Africa. Despite the sad financial state of their union, qualification has seen the sport's profile rise throughout Georgia.

The Barbarians beat Georgia 28–19 in Tbilisi on 4 June 2006 in front of some 10,000 spectators. The Barbarians led 14–7 at half-time and the Lelos pulled back to 14-all early in the second half, but the Barbarians added two more tries before the Lelos got their third just before the end. Paliko Jimsheladze, playing as a fullback, became the first Georgian to win 50 caps. In recognition of this feat he was presented with a commemorative cap by Nodar Qipiani, the first captain of a Georgian national team. After the match the Barbarians presented £10,000 for the development of rugby union in Georgia.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Georgia performed strongly, holding Argentina 6-3 at half time, and in the next match did even better, losing to Ireland 14-10, which included a disallowed try, three missed drop goals, and spent the last 5 minutes just metres from the Irish line, allowing Ireland to scrape through. Georgia secured its first World Cup win with a convincing 30-0 victory over Namibia. Georgia's final try in the match came in injury time with an interception by Davit Kacharava.