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Georgian Rugby to enter team in Currie Cup
By Ian Cameron
The Georgian Rugby Union are set to enter a side in the South African Currie Cup competition – reportedly from January 1st, 2020.
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The move comes following talks between the GRU and SARU in which the two unions thrashed out a partnership agreement.
According to the official Georgian Rugby website: “On December 18, 2019, Georgia and South Africa Rugby Unions signed an 11-year cooperation agreement.”
The agreement covers co-operation between all national representative sides, which will include joint training and warm-up matches.
There will also be co-operation between both unions’ academies.
The agreement will also see an upskilling of coaches and general rugby personnel: “Capacity-building of Georgian coaches, referees, administrators and other rugby specialists with the assistance of South Africa Rugby Union.”
#Georgia Rugby Union @GeorgianRugby has concluded a partnership agreement w/the #SouthAfrica R.U.
The partnership includes a GEO rugby franchise in the Currie Cup & number of other joint fixtures in ?? & ?? pic.twitter.com/JS3rZO4BO2
— Shalva Tsiskarashvili (@tsiskarashvili) December 21, 2019
The Agreement was signed by Mark Alexander, President of South Africa Rugby Union, and Gocha Svanidze, President of Georgia Rugby Union.
It’s a positive move for the Georgians, who after years of seeming progress won just one game the Rugby World Cup, having won two in 2015.
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A win over Uruguay was all Georgia managed and they failed to worry any of the other sides in the Pool stages, dropping to 14th in the World Rugby Rankings.
They did score nine tries at RWC 2019. Their previous best was five in a single campaign in 2007 and 2015.
Georgia are yet to beat a Tier 1 nation.
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