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I absolutely love the Six Nations. However, as much as I admire the great tournament, there is an elephant in the room: Georgia.
Georgian rugby has experienced significant growth in the past decade, since making their first appearance at the Rugby World Cup in 2003. Today, rugby’s popularity rivals that of football and their home Test matches regularly sell out the 54,000-seat Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena.
Backed by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the infrastructure of the game is outstanding, with high-performance academies throughout the country. With over 2800 registered players in a country of just under 4.5 million, rugby pitches are occupied by both junior and senior players throughout the day.
National team coach Milton Haig has praised the enthusiasm of the country for rugby on numerous occasions and this year they will host the Under 20 Junior Championships.
The team already secured automatic qualification for the next Rugby World Cup through a third-placed finish in their group at the 2015 tournament, ahead of Tonga and Namibia. In the same tournament, Georgia was competitive in their losses against New Zealand and Argentina.
Unfortunately, last week the chief executive of the Six Nations, John Feehan, emphatically shut down the possibility of Georgia potentially joining the tournament.
“I’m sure it would be interesting but we’ve got to look at it from the integrity of our competition and what’s good for us and not necessarily what’s good for Georgia,” Feehan said in a frank interview with the BBC.
“And I don’t mean that in any nasty way – other than to say that my role is to make sure that the six unions which are involved in the Six Nations maintain the credibility of the tournament. And a game like that could involve all sorts of speculation that wouldn’t necessarily be helpful.”
In the wake of the continually poor performances of Italy in the tournament, Feehan and national team coach Conor O’Shea have been forced to defend the inclusion of the Azzuri at the expense of outsiders such as Georgia and Romania.
According to the current IRB rankings, 12th placed Georgia are just ahead of Italy. Although Scotland and Ireland have played Georgia in the November window, Italy have not faced Georgia in 14 years, during which they have hosted Tier 1 opposition countless times. Some have speculated that the Italy have avoided a Test match against Georgia at all costs in fear of adding fuel to the fire.
Two years ago, the Under 18 Georgians finished runners up in the Elite Division of the European Championship, an expanded Six Nations tournament, beating Ireland and Italy.
Their reward for an outstanding performance? Georgia was cut off and now the Under 18 Six Nations tournament is played instead. It seems there are some in the Home Nations (France protested the decision) who are afraid of an emerging nation upsetting the order.
As it stands, Georgia have absolutely no hope of making it a Seven Nations tournament, as it purely comes down to money. Staging a Test match in Tblisi is nowhere near as attractive to sponsors or fans compared to the current nations, and for people like Feehan, it’s a risk too large to take.
For now, Georgia must now ensure they beat their Tier 2 rivals and hope that more economically powerful nations such as Germany and Spain improve their playing stocks. Because an improving Germany (Who defeated Romania over the weekend) or Spain will have more chance of being invited into the old boys club ahead of Georgia and Romania.
Any of a promotion-relegation system, a Seven Nations tournament, or even a biannual all-inclusive continental championship could be the answer. But Georgia needs more Test matches against top nations.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.