Georgia in Pro12 ?

[Croket66]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-4240338/Georgia-chasing-place-Six-Nations.html

'We've had discussions with the Pro12 and Super Rugby,' revealed Haig. 'The door is usually more open with the southern hemisphere, maybe they feel more of a responsibility to drive the global game. Our ideal is to have a fully contracted team.'

about 6 Nations

'We'd like to invite John Feehan, the CEO, or any of the Six Nations committee to Georgia,' head coach Milton Haig told Sportsmail. 'None of us have ever spoken to him. Is it about adding value on the rugby field or adding financial value? We can do both. 'Tell us what the cost is. If it's â'¬10 million a year, tell us. At least then we can say, 'we're in, here's â'¬10m' or 'we're out'. With the support of the public, government and benefactors, I'm pretty sure we'd find that figure.'

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Sounds like this is Georgia repeating the same argument Haig has made before. I don't blame them, the 6N and REC is the time to make their voice heard, even if it will likely fall on deaf ears.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Georgia in SR!

What's the point in even bring that idea to the table?

That's well over 24hrs flight time just to get there from Dunedin.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Italian teams entered the Pro12 because they paid the other competing nations for the privilege. I'm in no doubt that if the other competing nations were paid enough money, they'd welcome Georgia in with open arms.

Another factor in play is that Ireland are looking to host the World Cup in 2023. Could being amenable to Georgian entry into the Pro12 buy their vote?

 

[munstermuffin]

Will Georgia be competitive though in Pro12. If you take out their French based guys

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Will Georgia be competitive though in Pro12. If you take out their French based guys

they'll probably adopt some type of rule where if you want to get selected for national team you have to play in pro12 or something similar to jaguares

 

[ratsapprentice]

I'd imagine their rich (not sure how rich) backer could offer them good (if not competetive with top, top end) salaries.

How many "top end" backs does Georgia have though? I can't think of any Georgian players who aren't forwards.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Merab Sharikadze is the only one i could find who played in france for d2 club Aurillac

all the others played in georgia league or russia

tl;dr: no, no they don't

 

[profitius]

All this push for Georgian rugby to be involved in the 6 nations and pro12 is nice but I'm not sure how aware people are of the finances of rugby in Europe. Basically the 6 nations funds professional rugby in Europe. Want to relegate Italy? Well do and you'll set Italian rugby back years. Want to add Georgia to make it 7 teams? Well thats an extra week on the calendar where players are missing for their clubs. Oh, and the 6 nations money is then split 7 ways instead of 6 ways resulting in millions of lost Euro/pounds for the unions. This at a time when they're being squeezed financially. And not to mention Georgia are worse than Italy at the moment! The team everyone wants to get rid of.


On to the pro12. It's a long way away which means a lot of travel and if the Americans join it'll be too much. Plus the money issue again.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

All this push for Georgian rugby to be involved in the 6 nations and pro12 is nice but I'm not sure how aware people are of the finances of rugby in Europe. Basically the 6 nations funds professional rugby in Europe. Want to relegate Italy? Well do and you'll set Italian rugby back years. Want to add Georgia to make it 7 teams? Well thats an extra week on the calendar where players are missing for their clubs. Oh, and the 6 nations money is then split 7 ways instead of 6 ways resulting in millions of lost Euro/pounds for the unions. This at a time when they're being squeezed financially. And not to mention Georgia are worse than Italy at the moment! The team everyone wants to get rid of.


On to the pro12. It's a long way away which means a lot of travel and if the Americans join it'll be too much. Plus the money issue again.

georgia will probably pay the other unions in a similar way to italy plus i'm sure they will increase the tv revenue so you're not dividing the same pie but a larger one

 

[ratsapprentice]

Whee is the TV revenue increase coming from?

Georgia?

I highly doubt sponsors and advertisers will value their market very much, and I'm similarly doubtful that any rights payments would be meagre.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Whee is the TV revenue increase coming from?

Georgia?

I highly doubt sponsors and advertisers will value their market very much, and I'm similarly doubtful that any rights payments would be meagre.

i'd imagine that georgia being in the competition would greatly increase the value of 6 nations rights domestically, but at 3.2 million people i think you're right it wouldn't be substantial

they could work it out that countries only received money from their domestic tv contracts and that other contracts (southern hemisphere, north america) could be split in a way to benefit the larger countries

i honestly don't think money is an issue, they just need to decide who receives what

 

[ratsapprentice]

It's not just that - they are quite a poor country (not trying to be disrespectful or sneering here, just pragmatic), with a GDP significantly lower than the 6 nations'.

I think people really misunderstand what makes the 6 nations successful - it's not innovative or progressive. Nor is it indended to be, it's all about tradition and predictability.

It's why people are averse to bonus points - because it increases the number of "moving parts". It's the same teams, at the same time of year trying to do the same simple thing - win as many games as possible.

I love steak, and I don't have any great love of Turkey, but I wouldn't want beef for Christmas lunch. It's Christmas.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

It's not just that - they are quite a poor country (not trying to be disrespectful or sneering here, just pragmatic), with a GDP significantly lower than the 6 nations'.

I think people really misunderstand what makes the 6 nations successful - it's not innovative or progressive. Nor is it indended to be, it's all about tradition and predictability.

It's why people are averse to bonus points - because it increases the number of "moving parts". It's the same teams, at the same time of year trying to do the same simple thing - win as many games as possible.

I love steak, and I don't have any great love of Turkey, but I wouldn't want beef for Christmas lunch. It's Christmas.

didn't realize that georgia was that poor

what makes the 6 nations succeed is that it's really good rugby, and right now we aren't sure that the best european teams are participating

you can drop italy and make them play in europe if you want but as long as they are in the 6n, calls for georgian participation are perfectly legitimate

at some point rugby is going to have to accept that more than 10 countries play the sport and not every national team is going to have a teams in a top league in their country and that their best players are going to need to play in super rugby, pro 12, england, or france

 

[stus768]

I would be interested to know what the viewing figures and tv deal is in Italy.

I think the six nations is successful based on national rivalries and it's on free TV so all pubs can show it.

 

[Brigantine]

Georgia in SR!

What's the point in even bring that idea to the table?

That's well over 24hrs flight time just to get there from Dunedin.

The Sunwolves have a base in Singapore, I'm sure the Lelos would have a base in southern Africa in the same way.

And longer term, SR are looking to expand to even more teams, and presumably that implies even fewer games outside your own conference anyway, reducing the significance of the geographic distance to other conferences. They also talk about rivalries... If SR are investigating a Georgian team, I can only imagine they're also thinking about adding a Russian team in the following expansion.

That all still leads to far, far more travel than any European competition would take seriously, but for SR that horse has bolted already.

 

[Croket66]

Merab Sharikadze is the only one i could find who played in france for d2 club Aurillac

all the others played in georgia league or russia

tl;dr: no, no they don't

Tamaz Mchedlidze (centre,winger) plays for Agen


Scrumhalf Vasil Lobzhanidze plays in Top14 for Brive

 

[munstermuffin]

If they get a full squad it'd be great having them in Pro12

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

As much as I'd like this to happen I think Rats is correct, from a perfectly selfish point of view the current pro 12 unions could only lose money from this. Germany and North America bring potentially huge markets into the pro 12, Georgia brings virtually nothing in that aspect despite having the best rugby, this won't happen.

 

[munstermuffin]

As much as I'd like this to happen I think Rats is correct, from a perfectly selfish point of view the current pro 12 unions could only lose money from this. Germany and North America bring potentially huge markets into the pro 12, Georgia brings virtually nothing in that aspect despite having the best rugby, this won't happen.

Rumour is German and Georgia are applying together. Biggest issue I see is TV rights. Like a Pro12 game there with time difference etc is key.

Eonder would a scenario like a German and Georgian team based in Germany be best case. Like as I said regarding US team. Travel and air miles will be a consideration. Some teams see Italy as nightmare trek and thats short compared to a Georgia or USA