LAST UPDATE | 10 Jul 2022
GEORGIA HEAD COACH Levan Maisashvili said Sunday’s 28-19 win over Italy in Batumi is unlikely to help his side feature in the Six Nations Championship.
Fly-half Tedo Abzhandadze, 22, scored 20 points as The Lelos beat a country from rugby’s traditional Tier One for the first time.
Georgia are ranked 13th in the world with the Azzurri, who were invited into the annual competition alongside England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 2000, are 12th.
Their claims for a place at the international top table has come as they have won the second-tier Rugby Europe Championship, which offers no promotion to the Six Nations, 11 of the last 12 times.
“I don’t think today’s result will change much in terms of if Georgia should maybe join the Six Nations,” Maisashvili told reporters.
“I absolutely don’t think they are going to open the door on the back of one result,” he added.
In this year’s Six Nations, Italy beat Wales for their first victory in the tournament since 2015.
“Georgia were really physical, they put us under a lot of aerial pressure, they really deserved the win,” Azzurri captain Michele Lamaro told RugbyTV Georgia.
“On our side, we could have done a lot more,” the flanker added.
Next week, Georgia host Portugal in their season-ending Test while Italy next play in November against Samoa.
At the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Georgia play the likes of two-time champions Australia and Wales in Pool C while Italy face sides such as hosts France and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
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What is going on!
@Larry Whack: tour de france
@Larry Whack:
Lads, how good is the sprinting opposition?
Just asking?
@Cowboy Paddy: he wouldn’t be main sprinter if Sam Bennett was fit. The lead out man Morkov is a machine. I’d love to see a Sam v Cav sprint.
@Peter O Donnell: Its happened plenty of times recently, Sam wins! As would Caleb Ewan, as in beat Cav, it’s a particularly fortunate green jersey for him!
@Colm O’Brien: then you could argue would Sagan have won those green jerseys in the 3 years Cav was out with Epstein Barr?
It’s not Cav’s fault that he’s currently the best sprinter in the peloton and had the best lead out train in the business, the same as it wasn’t Sam’s fault last year. You can only ride against who’s in the race.
I’d love to see him make history after everything he’s been through, however I just can’t see him make the time cut having to go up Ventoux twice tomorrow.