‘Give us a chance’, urges Georgian coach Cockerill
GEORGIA head coach Richard Cockerill says he’s keen for his side to “have a crack” at Wales after Warren Gatland’s men were challenged to an unofficial Six Nations play-off match by the Tier 2 nation.
The Lelos made headline news across the world last week when they threw down the gauntlet to Gatland’s side.
While Wales had slumped to a first Six Nations whitewash since 2003, Cockerill’s men had just lifted the Rugby European Championship trophy for the seventh year in a row.
With Wales at their lowest point for several years and Georgia desperate for more opportunities at rugby’s top table, Georgian Rugby president Ioseb Tkemaladze invited the Wooden Spoon holders to a showdown in Tbilisi this autumn.
The Georgians famously beat Wayne Pivac’s Wales 13-12 at the Principality Stadium in the autumn of 2022.
Englishman Cockerill, who took over as national team boss in January, is a fan of the idea and said it could be a “great spectacle” if the WRU were to accept.
“We’re always looking for games against Tier 1 teams,” he said during an appearance on The Rugby Pod.
“Wales haven’t gone well in this Six Nations and I think it was just to chuck it out there and go ‘come to Tbisili and play us or go for a doubleheader in the autumn’, just to see how good we are.
“We don’t really know as we don’t get the opportunity to play against the top teams as often as we’d like to.
“And it’s good bants, isn’t it? To go to Wales and say ‘come on then, we’ll come to you, you come to us and let’s have a crack’.
“The Georgian public love their rugby, if Wales came here in the autumn, we’d sell out the national stadium, 60,000 seats.
“What a great spectacle, it’s a great place to visit and they’re passionate about their rugby.”
Cockerill added: “Why not give Georgia the opportunity to test itself.
“We might not be good enough, but we won’t know until we stick our heads above the parapet and see if we can have an unofficial play-off game for the Six Nations.
“I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen, certainly not in the very near future but why not have a bit of a crack and just see if we’re good enough.
“We’d just like to be invited to the party a little bit more.”