Georgia

The Georgia national rugby team, also known by fans as The Lelos and The Borjgalosnebi, represent the country of Georgia in the Rugby Europe Championship and the Rugby World Cup. Due to the success of the Georgia Rugby team (they've won the Rugby Europe Championship 12 times), Georgia is considered to be one of the world's fastest-growing rugby nations and one of the world's most-improved sides.

Read on to discover even more about the Georgia Rugby team. Here you can learn all about the history of the team and see their upcoming fixtures and latest results.

Throughout the early 20th century, there were a number of attempts to introduce rugby union to Georgia. However, the Georgia Rugby Union was not founded until 1964 and it remained part of the Soviet Union's rugby federation until the late 1980s.

When Georgia first declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the team initially struggled for games. However, they joined World Rugby in 1992 and began to play more regularly. By the turn of the millennium, the Georgia Rugby team had become a force in the Rugby Europe Championship (after France and Italy dropped out). Since 2007, the side have never finished lower than second in the competition.

On top of this, since 2003, the Georgia Rugby team have also qualified for every edition of the Rugby World Cup. Although they've never advanced past the pools stage of the tournament, they did win two matches in the 2015 edition.

As a result of Georgia's success in the Rugby Europe Championship and the Rugby World Cup in recent years, the side have flown up the Rugby World Rankings and the Georgia Rugby team are close to breaking into the world's top 10. In fact, many people consider Georgia to be the seventh best team in Europe and rumours continue to swirl that they may be invited to join the Six Nations Championship if the competition ever expands.

Although the Georgia Rugby team does not contain many household names, the Georgia squad does still feature several established players who feature in top European leagues. In fact, there's a strong link between rugby in Georgia and the French rugby set-up. As a result, many of Georgia's top players such as Jaba Bregvadze, Vasil Lobzhanidze and Gela Aprasidze all play in the Top 14.