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Georgia achieves World Cup dream Posted: Wednesday November 27, 2002 8:16 AM
Georgia has never qualified for the finals of the Rugby World Cup before. But it will be there in all its glory next October when the tournament starts in Australia. And it has been drawn in a group with two of the world's superpowers -- England and South Africa. Rugby World Magazine travelled to enjoy a crazy night in Georgia. THEY know all about heroes in Georgia. In the early 1990s, while Britain was swapping Margaret Thatcher for John Major and rocking to the Manchester Sound, Georgians were dying in fighting on the streets of their capital city, Tbilisi, as the country struggled for stability, following their breakaway from the Soviet Union. Now they have found a new kind of hero. Levan Tsabadze, a 29-year-old prop and the most capped player in the Georgian rugby team, touched down the try which takes Georgia to the 2003 World Cup Finals in Australia, to play in England's group. In response, the citizens of Tbilisi took to the streets once more, but this time to drive even more erratically than normal (and that's saying something) with flags streaming from their cars and horns blowing wildly in celebration. As Zaza Kassachvili, the vice-president of the Georgian Rugby Union, put it: "This victory shows Georgia can be a rugby nation, and not just play rugby." Tsabadze's try -- his tenth in 33 games for Georgia -- came in the 40th minute of the winner-takes-all match against Russia. The fact that it was the old enemy they beat made it all the sweeter for the players, officials and the crowd of around 30,000 at the Dinamo Stadium, as well as the thousands more who watched the match on live TV and joined the street party afterwards. It gave Georgia a 14-13 lead going into halftime, with Makho Urjukashvili having kicked three penalties for them. Russia's points had come from a try and a drop-goal by Konstantin Rachkov, plus a penalty and a conversion by Andrei Kuzin, and they were denied any scores in the second half, while Urjukashvili added one more penalty. Tsabadze refused to accept all the glory, and rightly so as the victory was a real team effort, with Georgia's ability to retain possession well through many phases proving critical against a Russian side who were dangerous on the break. "God dictated that it was me who touched the ball down, but it was the team that did it," said Tsabadze, who plays for Montferrand. "It is extraordinary to do what we have done, and to do it in front of our public. I have never been to Australia, but it is not important whether I go. It is more important that the team goes." Georgia's World Cup debut will be the culmination of eight years of hard work by a small group of officials. Their union president, Bidzina Gegidze, his friend Kassachvili and Gia Kublashvili, the former general secretary of the union and current press secretary, all became involved with the running of rugby in their country in the mid-1990s. They recruited Frenchman Claude Saurel as their assistant coach and narrowly missed out on qualification for the 1999 Finals. They then decided that the way forward was to concentrate on building a strong Georgian team, and hoping the impetus that provided would pull the domestic game up to new levels. They promoted Saurel to number one and won the European Nations Cup -- the second division Six Nations -- in 2001. Georgia adopted the nickname of Lelos, which refers to an ancient Georgian ball game, to help inspire their growing band of followers. And they have continued to build, with the ambition of joining the major nations at rugby's top table. Kassachvili, 41, explains their philosophy: "Claude told us that if you want to do something in rugby, first of all you must respect rugby and secondly you must always think about what is best for the players. All actions must be governed by these rules. Slowly, but surely, we have been moving forward." When Georgia tried to qualify for the 1999 World Cup, it lost narrowly to Romania in the crunch match. "We realized it was very early in our development," says Kublashvili. "It is a small country. The people support us, but without help from the government it is very difficult for us." Like the majority of the world's rugby nations, Georgia is seriously struggling for funds. It receives its International Rugby Board grants and some sponsorship money, and manages to cover its costs and the players' expenses, but there are no wages for the players and no bonuses for the administrators. When it won the Nations Cup in 2000, one of its sponsors gave it US$150,000 and it ploughed that straight into the development of youth rugby. This autumn, for the first time, it received some government money, but only after the politicians were shamed into it by the actions of the citizens of Tbilisi. The Georgian Rugby Union was seriously worried that it could not afford to take its team to Ireland for its World Cup qualifier. The supporters' club, which was formed this year, responded by placing collection boxes on Tbilisi's streets and raised around 1,000 Lari -- the equivalent of about £350. The generosity of the citizens of this relatively poor country, with its ramshackle housing and fading architectural masterpieces, its crumbling roads and long working hours, was featured on national television and the Government responded by giving money to the union. There is, however, no guarantee such funding will continue, despite Georgia's success in reaching the World Cup Finals, and no guarantee that new sponsors will come calling either. Kassachvili says: "Georgia has only five million people, so products are hard to sell here, which means sponsors are hard to find. We have to do the best we can and I hope it will be easier now, because we have proved we are in the top 20 in the world. There are some guys in Georgia who have money, and the Government will be obliged to do something too." Kassachvili is also desperate to organize more matches for the Lelos and he wrote to 25 unions around the world earlier this year, asking for fixtures. Only five had the decency to reply -- three in the negative -- so he hopes more will be picking up the phone now. Russia has problems of its own, particularly relating to its freezing weather and the huge distances which have to be covered to bring the team together, let alone to play any foreign nations. Now it has one last chance to qualify for next year's World Cup through the repêchage, which will involve matches against Spain, then Tunisia and finally the USA. It's a system Kassachvili said would be "financially impossible" for Georgia to participate in, but for Russia it is now the only way. It is coached by South African James Stoffberg, who was putting a brave face on his team's defeat, and refusing to blame the fact that it lost flyhalf Rachkov to injury at half-time. "I am disappointed, but you can't expect to win a match if you make so many mistakes," he said. "We are not going to lie down. We have made a lot of progress and we can do well in the repêchage." Understandably, given their history, Russia are Georgia's greatest rival and Kassachvili said defeat in Tbilisi would have been too hard to swallow. "To lose to Russia is impossible to think about. Georgians would rather beat Russia than qualify for the World Cup. It is that important. Today there was only one door in front of me, and I am happy that we pushed that door open." The Georgian officials chose an Irish bar in Tbilisi (does every city have one?) to toast their team's success, which seems appropriate given that match referee Alain Rolland and his touch judges were Irish and had handled the local derby passions superbly. Kassachvili reflects on the past few years, and looks ahead to Australia. "I am happy, because before every game I ask myself what more can I do for Georgian rugby," he says. "Today is the confirmation that we have been doing the right thing. Rugby was closed to us, and now it is beginning to open." If you'd like to get 25 per cent off a one year subscription to Rugby World, the world's best-selling rugby magazine, call 01622-778778 and quote code: 31k.
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