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BBC News
18-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Cockerill eyes Wales v Georgia Six Nations play-off
Georgia head coach Richard Cockerill believes his side have "earned the right" to face Wales in a play-off to decide which nation should be in the 2026 Six Nations former England hooker says Georgia are good enough to play at Europe's highest level after clinching an eighth successive second-tier Rugby Europe Championship Wales finished bottom of the 2025 Six Nations for the second year in a row and have not won a game since beating Georgia at the World Cup in 2023. They also lost to Georgia in Cardiff in autumn 2022."If you are finishing bottom of the Six Nations why do you just get free reign to turn up next year and play," said Cockerill."We want the opportunity to prove that we can compete, so surely that's logical that we get the opportunity to have a play-off."It would be the richest game in World Rugby, Georgia versus Wales at some point in the near future to see who plays in the Six Nations for the next tournament, now that's jeopardy isn't it? "That would be a game people would want to watch." Georgia have risen to 11th in World Rugby's global rankings - one place above Wales, who have dropped to their lowest-ever position after 17 consecutive Test east European side have now won 17 second-tier titles and Cockerill says they need a greater challenge."We feel that we are probably a little bit too strong for this tournament although the other teams are improving especially Spain and Romania, but for us to improve we need to play at a tougher level," the 54-year-old told the BBC Radio Wales Breakfast programme."We need to go and get challenged and we need to lose games. We need to lose games to know what it feels like to play at the level that the Six Nations is at, as Italy had that opportunity in the early 2000s."We feel that we've earned the right, not to be given that place, we want the opportunity to prove that potentially we're good enough to compete on a regular basis at that level."However, Cockerill admitted the prospect of a play-off for a Six Nations place in the near future is unlikely. "I don't think so. If you're in the Six Nations you wouldn't want to be voting for that type of play-off would you because it might be you and the ramifications of not being in the Six Nations, from a rugby point of view but also from a financial point of view, would be very, very difficult."We don't want to just be given a spot and then we turn up and we're not good enough. We want the opportunity to prove that we can compete, so surely that's logical that we get the opportunity to have a play-off."It's a bit like the Championship football club gets into the Premiership isn't it, you know it would be the richest game in world rugby, Georgia versus Wales at some point in the near future to see who plays in the Six Nations for the next tournament, now that's jeopardy isn't it? "That would be a game people would want to watch and the money involved and the profile involved for Georgian rugby would catapult us into a completely different sphere if we were good enough to be able to beat whoever finishes bottom."And if we lose, well hey fair and square we come back, we re-group, we keep developing and we fight for the opportunity to do that again. I don't see that as an unreasonable request in the world that we live in." 'Wales just don't seem to have the players' Cockerill was part of England's coaching staff under Eddie Jones and led the team on an interim basis when the Australian was sacked in in charge of both the Georgian national team and the country's leading club side Black Lion, the former Leicester forward says he is not interested in Welsh rugby Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) are looking for a new director of rugby as well as a full-time replacement for Warren Gatland, who left the Wales head coach role during the 2025 Six Nations."I think the Welsh job would be attractive for anybody," said Cockerill."It's a fantastic country with fantastic history, a country that loves its rugby. "But whoever comes in next has got to be given time from top to bottom to develop the players that Wales need to be competitive because I think you look at the moment at players available for Wales, are they really good enough to be competing and being competitive in the Six Nations?"I think honestly, and with all respect to everybody, I just think that they haven't quite got the quality at this point."They may grow into it with a lot of young players being in and around the squad, but they're not quite good enough at the moment so whoever comes in is going to need time - and we know in professional sport the one thing you don't get... is the opportunity to build a squad and settle in and build it from the ground up, which at the moment is probably where Wales is at."
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Georgia winger Akaki Tabutsadze reaches 50 tries in test rugby
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia winger Akaki Tabutsadze became the seventh man in international rugby history to score 50 tries after bagging three in the Rugby Europe Championship final on Sunday. Tabutsadze is the first man in nearly 12 years to reach the milestone, after South Africa's Bryan Habana, who would eventually retire with 67 tries, two shy of the record held by Japan's Daisuke Ohata. Nicknamed 'The Bullet,' Tabutsadze's strike rate is an incredible 50 tries in 51 tests, and he's only 27. Georgia beat Spain 46-28 in the final, winning an eighth straight REC title and 14th in 15 years. ___ AP rugby:
Associated Press
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Georgia winger Akaki Tabutsadze reaches 50 tries in test rugby
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia winger Akaki Tabutsadze became the seventh man in international rugby history to score 50 tries after bagging three in the Rugby Europe Championship final on Sunday. Tabutsadze is the first man in nearly 12 years to reach the milestone, after South Africa's Bryan Habana, who would eventually retire with 67 tries, two shy of the record held by Japan's Daisuke Ohata. Nicknamed 'The Bullet,' Tabutsadze's strike rate is an incredible 50 tries in 51 tests, and he's only 27. Georgia beat Spain 46-28 in the final, winning an eighth straight REC title and 14th in 15 years. ___
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
World Rugby officially announce new rankings as Wales' fate sealed and England on the charge
Wales' defeat to Italy marked the team's 14th consecutive international loss, and the lowest point in Welsh rugby. Following Georgia's victory over Netherlands in the Rugby Europe Championship, Wales have slipped even further down the World Rugby Rankings to 12th, as officially confirmed by the governing body at midday on Monday. Warren Gatland's side are now staring down the barrel of a second consecutive Six Nations Wooden Spoon, which would have previously seemed impossible considering they were the number one ranked team in the world, for a brief period, in 2019. READ MORE: Six Nations news LIVE as WRU consider Warren Gatland's future READ MORE: 'It's not fair' – Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in firing line as Shrewsbury boss hits out Wales have dropped to 12th place in the rankings, one above Japan. They are due to tour there in the summer, and if they are to continue their losing streak, the Brave Blossoms could well leapfrog their Welsh opponents in the rankings, leading to even more Welsh misery. Following their win against France, England have jumped to sixth place, with Scotland swapping with them following their loss to Ireland. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here. There have been calls from some to introduce Six Nations promotion and relegation, with Georgia's dominance in the Rugby Europe Championship pushing their case to be involved. Wales legend Sam Warburton re-affirmed his calls for this recently, but says it almost certainly could never happen. Wales have not won an international game since they defeated Georgia in the pool stages of the 2023 World Cup, and despite Gatland's message of "building towards the 2027 World Cup", there have been little signs of progression in recent months, with the game against Italy arguably the worst performance of his second tenure so far. 1South Africa 92.782Ireland 91.36 (+0.58) 3New Zealand 90.364France 87.19 (-1.32) 5Argentina 84.976 (↑7) England 83.63 (+1.32) 7 (↓6) Scotland 82.99 (-0.58) 8Australia 81.529Fiji 80.0710Italy 78.67 (+0.26) 11 (↑12) Georgia 73.8512 (↓11) Wales 73.75 (-0.26) 13Japan 72.9514Samoa 72.6815USA 70.02
Asharq Al-Awsat
09-02-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Spain Qualifies for the Men's Rugby World Cup for the First time Since 1999
Spain has qualified for the men's Rugby World Cup for the first time this century. By advancing to the semifinals of the Rugby Europe Championship, a competition for second-tier countries below the Six Nations, the Spanish assured themselves of a place at the expanded World Cup being held in Australia in 2027. It will be Spain's second appearance at the sport's top event. The first came in 1999, when the team lost all three of its pool games against Uruguay, South Africa and Scotland, The AP reported. Georgia will also be at the World Cup — for the seventh straight occasion — after reaching the Rugby Europe Championship semis. The 2027 edition of the World Cup will feature 24 teams for the first time, up from 20.
