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The National
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The National
Dubai to host qualifier for 2027 men's Rugby World Cup in November
The UAE is set to host the final qualification tournament for the men's Rugby World Cup 2027, with the event scheduled to take place from November 8-18 at the end of the year in Dubai. The final chapter in the qualification journey - set to take place at the Sevens Stadium - will determine the 24th and last team to earn their place at the showpiece tournament in Australia, which will run from October 1 to November 13, 2027. A total of four teams will compete in a round-robin format across three match-days in Dubai. The team finishing top of the standings will secure the final spot at the World Cup, completing the line-up for what promises to be the biggest and most inclusive edition of the tournament to date. It will be the first edition to feature an expanded format with 24 teams, a new round of 16 and an increase in the number of matches to 52. Belgium are the first team confirmed to participate in the event, having finished fifth in the Rugby Europe Championship 2025. They will be joined by three more teams still to be determined through ongoing regional qualification pathways; the Rugby Africa Cup 2025, the Asia Rugby Championship 2025, the Sudamerica Rugby Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup 2025. The men's pool draw will take place in December and will be based on the World Rugby men's rankings at the end of the November international window. With the rankings set to determine the banding of teams for the draw, every result between now and December could directly impact the makeup of the six pools of four. Fixtures played during the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia will not be counted towards the rankings used for Rugby World Cup seeding purposes. World Rugby chair Brett Robinson said: 'The final qualification tournament is always a thrilling, do-or-die moment in the build-up to Rugby World Cup – and it's fitting that we bring it to a world-class destination like Dubai. "As we head towards the most inclusive and globally representative tournament ever, with 24 teams competing in an expanded format and at least one nation from each of our regional associations, this final step on the 'Journey to Australia 2027' will be a celebration of ambition, resilience and the global spirit of rugby. We cannot wait to see which team earns the final place and joins us for what promises to be a unique celebration of rugby and Australia in 2027.'
France 24
24-04-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Georgia's rugby dreams built on wild folk game
Held every Easter, the fierce contest pits the village's upper and lower halves against each other in a bruising effort to drive the ball into a river. Victory goes to the team that manages to hurl the ball -- stuffed with earth doused in locally made wine and weighing a hefty 16 kilograms (35 pounds) -- into the water. Known as Lelo, the game was first played in Shukhuti in western Georgia more than 150 years ago to commemorate a historic military victory against Ottoman Turkish invaders. Georgians see Lelo as a wild cousin of rugby, a game that has surged in popularity over the last few decades. Fittingly nicknamed the Lelos, Georgia's national rugby team has dominated the second-tier Rugby Europe Championship, clinching the title eight years in a row. "This is where Georgian rugby draws its passion for victory -- from the intense energy rooted in the ancient tradition of Lelo," said local mayor Alexandre Sarishvili. National team head coach Richard Cockerill shares that sentiment. "We're a small country with small numbers, but we're still able to put a team out that can compete with Fiji and Japan and Wales and Italy and win Rugby Europe every year," he told AFP at the squad's Tbilisi training ground. 'Jeopardy' With just 8,000 registered players -- a fraction of the numbers seen in Tier One nations -- Georgia have managed to beat the four sides mentioned above in recent years. Their Under-20s team defeated England ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Yet Georgia remain locked out of the Six Nations, a closed competition that hasn't welcomed a new team since Italy joined in 2000. Former England hooker Cockerill wants meritocracy to trump tradition when it comes to the Six Nations line-up. "We deserve an opportunity to play-off against the bottom team, to prove that we are good enough," he said, referring to Wales's ongoing dismal losing streak. "If a team's lost 17 Test matches on the bounce and is bottom of the Six Nations two years in succession, surely at some point there's got to be an opportunity for Georgia. "We're above Wales in the world rankings... But the gate's shut, isn't it?" Though he admits the push for inclusion is a long shot, Cockerill argues a promotion-relegation playoff would introduce both incentive and risk -- benefitting the sport. "There's a realistic chance that whoever wins Rugby Europe would actually put huge pressure on whoever finishes bottom of the Six Nations. If we're going to grow the game... then I think there should be some jeopardy." 'Containment' With enthusiastic public support and strong government backing, rugby is thriving on a grassroots level in the capital Tbilisi and beyond. But Cockerill warns growth will stall without greater competitive exposure. "We need to learn how to lose, and play as Italy have, as France did when they joined the Four Nations to make it Five Nations, as Fiji have done when they've joined Super Rugby." He envisions a similar trajectory for Georgia, and laments that all the country's best players move abroad to play in competitive club competitions. For now, Georgian rugby is stuck in a holding pattern. The new Nations Cup format, which groups them with other Tier Two sides, offers no path for promotion until at least 2030. "We're being told to wait five more years," Cockerill said. "That's not growth, that's containment." In Shukhuti on Sunday, after hours of punishing scrums, torn shirts, and battered bodies, the men of Upper Shukhuti finally broke through and claimed a hard-won victory. "Lelo captures the combative spirit of Georgians," said local doctor Nanuli Khalvashi, 64, who came to cheer for the Upper Shukhuti team.
