Georgia's rugby team wins European Nations' cup
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, March 21
The Georgian National Rugby Team, Borjgalosnebi, won the European Nations Cup on March 19. The Georgian team held the last match against Romania and defeated their opponents with a score of 38:9.
The Georgians also won Anthim the Iberian Cup, which is contested each time Georgia and Romania meet in a senior international match other than World Cup matches or qualifiers. The holder retains the cup unless the challenger wins a non-tournament match.
The match was held at Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi. Mamuka Gorgodze was named as the best player of the match.
The Georgian and Romanian rugby teams have held 19 matches so far, the Georgians having won 10 of them, the Romanians 8. One match ended in a tie.
The Georgian team was supported by Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who attended the match. “It's more than a sport,” Kvirikashvili noted after the termination of the game and congratulated the players, coach and supporters of the team.
"I would like to congratulate Georgian citizens, the players and their coach, and thank them for their sacrifice and heroism. This is more than a sport; this is an expression of Georgian spirit and today I am very proud," Prime Minister noted.
According to the coach of Borjgalosnebi, Milton Haig, he is pleased with the scores, which was the result of hard work.
"I am happy that we won with a 29-point difference. Everyone is happy and this is the result of one year of hard work. Such results do not come in one week, so I am glad that we achieved our goal,” stated Haig at the press-conference after the match.
He also advised the ew coach of Georgian football team, Slovakian Vladimir Weiss to move and live in Georgia in order to become acquainted wth Georgian culture.
“I advise the coach of the football team to come and live in Georgia, otherwise he will not succeed,” said Haig.
The Capitan of Georgian Team, Shalva Sutiashvili, claimed that the team is ready to play in Six Nations after winning the European Nations' cup.
“We felt the support of every person. I feel very proud. Now we are ready to play in Six Nations and if anyone has doubts, we will show them,” Sutiashvili stated.
The European Nations Cup (ENC) sometimes - referred to as the Six Nations B – is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. Since 2011, Georgians have been the champions every year. In total, since 2001, the Georgians have won 9 European Rugby Championships.
