Five things to know about the Georgia rugby team

Georgia coach Levan Maisashvili has named his 23-man squad for the first of two Tests against the world champion Springboks in Pretoria on Friday.

It will be South Africa’s first Test since winning the World Cup in Japan in November 2019.

South African rugby fans will not know much about Georgian rugby, so here are five things to help you follow the game at Loftus Versfeld a bit better on Friday.

Who are Georgia?

They are known as The Lelos, from the ancient but popular traditional Georgian folk-sport of “Lelo burti” (field ball), a sort of rugby played with a pumpkin-shaped ball, according to Wikipedia. They are a second-tier rugby nation and are ranked 12^th in the world, but they are higher than Tonga, Samoa, Italy and the USA.

What is their history?

The Georgia Rugby Union was founded in 1964, but until the late 1980s they formed part of the Soviet Union’s rugby federation. In 1988 a Sevens side started playing internationally, while their first ever 15-man Test was against Zimbabwe in 1989 (Georgia won 16-3 in Kutaisi).

How strong are they?

The Lelos have won the Europe Rugby Championship on several occasions, dominating in recent seasons by picking up the title 13 times in the last 20 years. They have also played at all the World Cups since 2003, but have never gone beyond the pool stages. In 2003 they came up against the Springboks and lost 46-19 – the only meeting between the teams.

Georgian players celebrate a round four win against Romania during the Rugby Europe International Championship in March this year. Picture: Levan Verdzeuli/Getty Images

What do we know about the players?

The majority of the players ply their trade in the French Top 14 and lower divisions. Former flanker Mamuka Gorgodze is possibly their most well-known player; the now 36-year-old featured in 168 games for Montpellier (2005-14) and 102 for Toulon (2014-19). He played 75 Tests between 2003 and 2019. The current captain is centre Merab Sharikadze, with 77 caps.

And, finally, good luck to the commentators

The Georgians have some seriously challenging names, so good luck to the commentators on Friday. Just typing the team below was a challenge and I personally couldn’t imagine talking through a sequence of play and not making a mistake. At least they should get Georgi right – there are six in the team.

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Team to face Boks

David Niniashvili, Akaki Tabutsadze, Giorgi Kveseladze, Merab Sharikadze, Demur Tapladze, Tedo Abzhandadze, Vasil Lobzhanidze, Tornike Jalagonia, Beka Saginadze, Giorgi Tsutskiridze, Kote Mikautadze, David Gigauri, Giorgi Melikidze, Jaba Bregvadze, Guram Gogichashvili. Bench: Giorgi Chkoidze, Nikoloz Khatiashvili, Luka Japaridze, Nodar Cheishvili, Giorgi Javakhia, Gela Aprasidze, Giorgi Babunashvili, Ilia Spanderashvili