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Georgia's Goderdzi Shvelidze, center, is tackled by Romania's Cristian Petre. AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
So I say “Georgia”, and you say, “Yeah, we know all about that. Americam state, one of thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule, yada, yada, yada”. And I say, “No, not Georgia the state, Georgia the country”. And you guys go: “There’s a country called Georgia?”
For the geographically challenged, there IS a country called Georgia, and what’s more, they eat pigs trotters and foot long bread filled with raw eggs, hate the Russians, and play rugby.
How do I know this?
Because yesterday, I had the good fortune to sit down for a chat with the Australian assistant coach of the Georgia national rugby team, Damien Cummins.
Cummins or “Turtle” as he is known to his footy mates, has been in the Georgian setup on a part time basis for two years, flying over for short stints to prepare them for the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011.
Along with Aussie Head Coach Tim Lane, and Kiwi conditioner, Johnny Nguamo, Cummins was part of a successful season for the Georgians which culminated in a cherished victory over bitter rivals Russia and successful qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
A former Manly, Waratahs, London Scottish and Newport hooker, Cummins has done his share of travelling for his rugby, but Georgia surely ranks as his strangest destination yet.
Aside from the food, the Georgian dialect which he is yet to master, and the world-class skiing, which is a long way from Kosciusko, there’s just the whole different approach to rugby.
Cummins takes up the story.
“We play in the European Nations Cup, which is pretty much a Six Nations ‘B’ competition. We play against Germany, Spain, Portugal, Romania and Russia and we needed to win three of those games to qualify for the World Cup.
“Last year we went through undefeated aside from a draw with Portugal. This year, we won our first three games against Germany, Portugal and Spain, so we had qualified before we went to play Romania, who still hadn’t qualified.
“So we travelled to Bucharest, a venue you don’t go to very often in mainstream rugby, and the weather was rotten. Freezing cold, with two feet of snow. We were supposed to be given training facilities and the regular stuff, but the Romanians weren’t very co-operative! We couldn’t train outside, so we eventually hired a hall, but we couldn’t get much done.
“They let us have a Rhino machine to do some scrum training, but it was the old model with the elastic straps, where you add more straps to increase the resistance and the flexibility of the machine. This one didn’t have any straps at all and they wouldn’t give us any either, so the scrum machine was virtually useless.
“We have one of the best scrums in the competition, so I guess they didn’t want to give us too much of a leg up in that area.”
“Anyway, so while we’re mucking around in two feet of snow with a busted scrum machine, they’re at the Olympic training venue, with the full indoor synthetic pitches and the whole deal. They wanted to play us on synthetic, but we said no way, we’re playing outdoors on grass.
“Eventually they had no choice, so they got a couple of hundred people out with shovels and cleared the ground so we could play on it. As you’d expect, after a week of training with poor equipment in halls and on snowbound ovals, the boys weren’t quite there. Didn’t quite have that 1 percent, and we got beaten 22-10”.
The week in Bucharest, though, was only a warm up for the main game of the season – the clash with rivals Russia.
To fully understand what rugby between Russia and Georgia means, you need to take a look at the recent armed conflict between the two states.
In 2008, military conflict erupted between Georgia on one side, and Russia and the separatist republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other. As Russia and Georgia both sent troops into South Ossetia, the conflict quickly escalated into full scale war.
After months of fighting, President Medvedev announced an intent to halt further Russian military operations in Georgia. Russian troops withdrew from Gori and Poti, but remained in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which it recognizes as independent countries.
Georgia, on the other hand, considers them territories under Russian occupation. As you can imagine, this difference of opinion translates into rugby.
“With everything that’s gone on,” says Cummins, “we’ve had to play on neutral grounds the last couple of years. Last year we played them in the Ukraine, which is a neutral venue but also pretty much a Russian stronghold.”
In this match in Mariupol, Ukraine, the Georgians belted the Russians 29-21 as the teams faced off for the first time since the armed conflict.
“This year it was our turn to pick the venue and so we went to Trabzon which is in Turkey on the Black Sea. The game was held at Trabzon Stadium (Trabzonspor Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu), which is a small ground with a nice football pitch, just a great deck to play on.
“The ground holds only about 6000 people and it sold out in 4 hours to a full crowd of Georgians who had come over for the game. It was on right from the beginning, even during the Russian anthem there was this booing and hissing from the stands. During kicks for goal there was booing and yelling.
“The thing too was that this wasn’t like at home when you’re cheering on your team. It was real tribalism.
“They were really passionate and there was incredible tribal feeling in the noise they were making, and not only the people yelling and cheering, but drums and hooters and whistles as well. It is a whole different atmosphere to anything I’d ever seen before. I mean, there were about 100 buses turned up full of people.
“It was just amazing.
“We eventually won the game well, I think 36-8, as the boys were so pumped up and the crowd was right behind us all the way. But then in another of those funny twists that happen in Georgian rugby, the players were straight onto the bus after the game to travel three hours back into Georgia.
“I wasn’t sure why they were so keen, until I realised that the Prime Minister had sent a plane to pick up the team and bring them to Tbilisi to celebrate. The President even got on national TV and made a long speech about the win. He talked for about 15 minutes all up, which just goes to show what a big deal it is for us to beat the Russians.”
So all in all, a unique experience for a rugby coach, particularly one from the golden sands down at North Steyne. But are the foreign coaches actually making a difference?
Says Cummins: “There’s actually quite a lot of money in Russia, so most of their players stay in Russia and it means that they don’t develop quite as much, because they don’t have exposure to top games and good quality foreign players. The Georgians on the other hand play mostly in the French Top 14, which is good and bad for us.
“It’s good in the sense that they play regular high quality games, but not so good from the point of view of trying to get them together for pre-Test camps and so on.
“Georgia is a hard place to get to, and you might leave Paris at 2pm on Monday, but because of the flights you have to get, you won’t reach Georgia until 4 or 5 am on Tuesday.
“So we get the guys for a session on Tuesday afternoon, then two sessions on Wednesday. Thursday is a rest day usually, then a captains run on Friday, and then a Test on Saturday. So we really only get them for three, maybe four sessions, to prepare for a Test.
“The other challenge is trying to get top quality matches and opposition.
“We have a Test against Canada later this year, and we’re hopeful of getting a game against Italy before the World Cup. But that’s about the best opposition we’ll play before we go into the tournament.
“So it’s a big ask”.
Surely, though, the experience must be worth all the travel and language hassles?
“Oh yeah, the people are really good,” Cummins laughs. “Just wonderful. I mean, the last year was pretty tough with the global financial situation, and Georgia had 40% unemployment at one stage so no-one was smiling much.
“But now it has picked up and there’s a lot more happening. Particularly the building of infrastructure and that sort of thing.
“Look, it’s not probably the place you would choose to take your family for a holiday, but it’s terribly unique in its own way. The food is very different to what we’re used to, but good all the same.
“They have a thing called khinkali, which is basically a sort of bread or dumpling in the shape of a boat. It’s full of melted cheese, a couple of raw eggs and a big wedge of butter. Not great for your cholesterol!”
“If I was asked what to eat in Georgia, I’d say the pork is really good. They do great pork.
“Perhaps be a bit careful in the country areas. I’ve heard stories of pig trotter stew with all sorts of things in there. Let’s just say that nothing is wasted!”
“It’s a great experience, though, and a good chance to pick up tips from guys like Tim Lane and Johnny Ngaumu. I’d love to go to the World Cup, but a week is a long time in rugby, let alone seventeen months.”
“So I’ll just keep paying my dues and building my coaching CV. I’ll do Manly Colts again this year and keep looking for a professional opportunity. My family is only young, and I’d love to take them away and let them experience another culture through rugby”.