Rugby union came relatively late to Georgia, but, in part due to the sport's similarities with a traditional Georgian ball game called lelo (or lelo burti) the country's rugby union side quickly made up for lost time!
The first test match played by an official Georgian national side was against a touring Zimbabwean team, in 1989, and within 10 years they had their sights set on World Cup qualification. After a losing a play-off for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the "Lelos" consolidated with strong showing in European tournaments, and eventually qualified for a World Cup in 2003.
Since then, Georgia have appeared at successive World Cups and the profile of rugby union in the country has been raised considerably as a result of the competitiveness of the side!
