-
Georgia head coach Milton Haig guided his side to an unbeaten tour of the Pacific Islands
-
The ever-improving European country is now waiting for a Six Nations opportunity
-
No team had completed an unbeaten three-Test tour of the Pacific Islands since Wales in 1986
Georgia head coach Milton Haig is desperate to guide the Lelos to the Six Nations after a great year following on from their Rugby World Cup success.
Whilst the Tier One nations dominated the headlines last month, Georgia were making some of their own. No team had completed an unbeaten three-Test tour of the Pacific Islands since Wales in 1986. Well, until now.
For the Georgia Chief, it doesn’t matter how they get there – be it via a play-off against the bottom placed side or automatic promotion/relegation.
“We just want to get in there. Honestly, if we had a play-off where we played the bottom of the Six Nations, obviously we’d take that because it’s a good start for us.” revealed Haig
If we’re good enough, we will win and get in. All we want to do is to have that chance. If we’re not good enough, we’re not good enough, and we’ll be the first to put our hands up and say ‘sorry guys, maybe in another few years.’
“The reality though is give us an opportunity, because we think we’re ready for it. Whether that transpires to being good enough to get in, who knows, but we’re ready for the chance.
“It’s become more tangible, certainly because of the results in the last year or so. It is a topic that is being discussed more by the powers that be who make these decisions, I’m sure of that. Whether it transpires to anything solid I’m less sure, but I expect because of what we’ve achieved it’s being talked about.
“The atmosphere here at a game is special. We had 54,000 at the Romania game even after we’d won the ENC when there was nothing riding on it. To have a big Six Nations game in Tbilisi, you could probably sell it two times, three times over.
“Teams coming over here would enjoy it, the hospitality of the Georgian people is renowned, and we think they’d enjoy the city of Tbilisi as well. Hopefully that will all be part of the selling process if we ever get to that stage of being included – that Tbilisi can be a destination similar to Rome or Paris.”
