Georgia play their home games in strip of red shirts with white shorts and socks. The shirt featured in the 2003 Australian hosted Rugby World Cup for the first time and qualified again for France in 2007. There are not many names known to the general public, but notable players to have donned the shirt are: Ilia Zedguinidze,Tedo Zibzibadze, Malkhaz Urjukashvili, Levan Tsabdze and Irakli Machkhaneli.
The Georgia national rugby union team played their first international match against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in September 1989, winning 3-16. The federation was founded in 1964, but at this time was part of the Soviet Federation. The team has a nickname, The Lelos, this comes from lelo, an indigenous Georgian sport with strong similarities to rugby. Georgia is currently considered a third tier rugby union nation and they participate in the European Nations Cup, which is a second-level competition for European national teams. Georgia relies heavily on overseas based players as there are only eight rugby pitches and three hundred adult players in the country, the bulk of the national squad are based in France, in both the Top 14 and lower divisions.
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