Georgia in to the Six Nations and URC

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I tough this would be the best place to talk about this subject, but Georgia are targeting getting a team into the URC and their country into the 6N:-

Georgia plans for Six Nations and URC Georgia are targeting a place in the United Rugby Championship and then the Six Nations as the next step after their 28-19 win over Italy at the weekend. The country's rugby president Soso Tkemaladze is actively exploring the possibility of a Georgian club side joining an expanded URC, which would pitch them against the four Welsh teams, as well as sides from Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa. "We are looking at this and we need an offer to see if we are ready to jump," Tkemaladze is quoted as saying in an interview for the Mail. "We need something like the URC, a stronger competition." He also knows their victory over the Azzurri, who beat Wayne Pivac's Wales in Cardiff just four months ago, will increase talk about the prospect of Georgia joining the Six Nations via promotion and relegation. "We need to show to everybody our regular matches are all on the same level as the Italy game. Wales beat South Africa, Italy beat Wales, and Georgia beat Italy. It means Georgia is world champion! Of course the Six Nations is our dream, but to get there we need to work. "The Six Nations want to see long-term plans. As the president I am saying we need two or three more years to make some changes. The rest is dependent on the Six Nations. It is not in our control." But Tkemaladze insisted: "When I said to everybody about Georgia rugby’s ambitious plans, they were shocked. One day Georgia will become world champions, but to do that we need a strategy which we are working hard on." wrote:

What does everyone think ?

Rugby is big business now.  If Georgia can bring the £££ then they might just be able to join either or both the URC and the 6N.  The SA teams were added because of the potential of their rugby mad near 60 million population, and all of the broadcast possibilities that go with that.  'Chimney pots', as it has been referred to before.

Would Georgia be able to offer the same sort of financial incentive to the URC and 6N members to let them in, like was the case with SA?  Do they have the same 'chimney pot' potential?

Or to put it another way, sadly/realistically the question the 6N/URC members will ask is '"What is in it for us?". I think that's the sole thing that will govern this decision.

LordDowlais wrote:I didn't want to start a new thread, so I tough this would be the best place to talk about this subject, but Georgia are targeting getting a team into the URC and their country into the 6N:-



What does everyone think ?

This is completely unrelated to the topic. Please start a new topic.

Thanks.

Pot Hale wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:I didn't want to start a new thread, so I tough this would be the best place to talk about this subject, but Georgia are targeting getting a team into the URC and their country into the 6N:-



What does everyone think ?

This is completely unrelated to the topic. Please start a new topic.  

Thanks.

Agree. So it has been moved. There is no relevance to URC squad sizes.

Where is the quote from LD?

RiscaGame wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:I didn't want to start a new thread, so I tough this would be the best place to talk about this subject, but Georgia are targeting getting a team into the URC and their country into the 6N:-



What does everyone think ?

This is completely unrelated to the topic. Please start a new topic.  

Thanks.

Agree. So it has been moved. There is no relevance to URC squad sizes.

Where is the quote from LD?

Quoted in the Daily Heil at least. He also intimates a 6ns tournament of 8, not 7.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-11026415/Georgias-rugby-president-Soso-Tkemaladze-speaks-Sportsmail-countrys-win-Italy.html

We can't have more games on the Rugby calendar.  I am sure the clubs in France and the Premiership would be strongly opposed to a larger Six Nations if it takes their players away for more games or more time away.  And they would be right.  So to shoehorn Georgia into the the Six Nations seems like a bit of wishful thanking.  A club in the URC would have a better chance but that league becomes larger and larger.

We should start with a 4 yearly European cup that coincides with the British Lions tour, to give Six NAtions B teams a run against depelted 6 Nations teams and work from there.
I also think we should expand the world cup, there another 4-5 teams that could potentially be added without weakening the tournament, in fact id prefer 4 teams per pool not 5.

doctor_grey wrote:We can't have more games on the Rugby calendar.  I am sure the clubs in France and the Premiership would be strongly opposed to a larger Six Nations if it takes their players away for more games or more time away.  And they would be right.  So to shoehorn Georgia into the the Six Nations seems like a bit of wishful thanking.  A club in the URC would have a better chance but that league becomes larger and larger.

.

Make it 8 nations by bringing in Georgia and whoever is the next best European nation (Spain?) and divide into 2 seeded groups of 4, with each team having a play-off with the team finishing in the same position in the opposing pool. Could have say France-England-Wales-Georgia and Ireland-Scotland-Italy-Spain. Loser of the 4th place play-off to face a relegatino play-off with the next best ranked European country.

Actually reduces the number of games by 1, unless you made the play-off a 2 leg affair, while still helping to promote and develop the game..

Not a chance. I think the best they can hope for is a playoff between the bottom 6N team and the top other european team. Expanding the 6N is a non starter same as SA coming in and Georgia are nowhere near ready to compete with the 6n teams

I have said for a long time tho they a place in the european cup could be found for some expansion teams. first in the minnows cup then in the full cup if they are good enough

Italy had beaten many of the 5N sides before they joined

I also think that there should be a schedule in the AIs that Georgia gets 3 games every year in the AIs -same as italy did. romania should as well

dummy_half wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:We can't have more games on the Rugby calendar.  I am sure the clubs in France and the Premiership would be strongly opposed to a larger Six Nations if it takes their players away for more games or more time away.  And they would be right.  So to shoehorn Georgia into the the Six Nations seems like a bit of wishful thanking.  A club in the URC would have a better chance but that league becomes larger and larger.

.

Make it 8 nations by bringing in Georgia and whoever is the next best European nation (Spain?) and divide into 2 seeded groups of 4, with each team having a play-off with the team finishing in the same position in the opposing pool. Could have say France-England-Wales-Georgia and Ireland-Scotland-Italy-Spain. Loser of the 4th place play-off to face a relegatino play-off with the next best ranked European country.

Actually reduces the number of games by 1, unless you made the play-off a 2 leg affair, while still helping to promote and develop the game..

Would result in a big drop in income
Zero chance

It would make a lot more sense for Georgia to be involved in URC and 6N than SA.

It doesn't make any sense for Georgia to be in there in the same way Italy should be removed. Italy getting their one win every 5 or 6 years shouldn't keep them in the tournament. By and large they aren;t good enough. It should go back to being 5 Nations again.

Georgia and Italy should start another league and test the interest in that. Perhaps invite Romania (what happened to them?) and perhaps the Pacific Island teams Tonga and Samoa.