Georgia in talks with the PRO14 - reports

The BBC are reporting that Georgia are in talks with the PRO14 regarding the possibility of entrance into the tournament.

The Los Lelos are currently in the UK for a joint training session with England in Oxford.

The high flying Georgians have been climbing up the internatioanl rugby ladder for years, but have effectively found themsevles hitting a glass ceiling with regards to the Six Nations.

However, Georgia’s head coach Milton Haig has said that talks have been held with the PRO14 regarding entry into the club competition.

The PRO14’s openness to expanding saw the inclusion of two South Africa sides – the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings – in 2017. Haig is now hopeful that some sort of Georgian franchise could be involved in the competition.

“We’ve had different talks with different competitions,” he said. “The next step for us is trying to get into a franchise competition – it could be the Currie Cup, it could be the Pro14, it could be Super Rugby.”

“Like most countries, to be successful at a high level of international rugby you need a stepping stone.

“Preferably it is European but after that as long as it is competitive and cost-effective then we will take anything.”

Haig said that he has been disappointed by the Six Nations apparent reluctance to open the door to Georgia.

“It’s always disappointing because you would hope one day there might be an opening for them to be a bit more risky and open the door,” Haig said.

“I can understand certain things in terms of the business model, but our job is just make sure that we can represent ourselves with every opportunity and that we hopefully we get more credibility and exposure.”

Eddie Jones’ England are being put put through their paces as they will go toe-to-toe with a notoriously physical Georgians in Oxford this week.

This is not the first time that England have trained with Georgia, as Jones did the very same thing in last season’s Championship.