The Georgian team Shavi Lomi is getting ready for the 2024–2025 EPCR “Challenge Cup” opening game. On December 7, the French top 14 team Vani will meet the Georgian rugby team at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.
Ioseb Tkemaladze, the president of the Rugby Union of Georgia, and Shalva Gogoladze, Georgia’s first deputy minister of culture and sports, visited a training session the club staged at the “Shevardeni” fishing base as part of the match preparations. Shalva Gogoladze discussed the club’s intentions with head coach Richard Cockerill and wished the rugby players success in the forthcoming match.
Just a reminder that the “Black Lion” competed for the EPCR “Challenge Cup” for the first time in 2023. After “Vani” on December 15, the Georgian club will face “Scarlets” in Wales; on January 11, 2025, another French team will receive “Bayona” in Tbilisi, and on January 19, Scotland will try to defeat “Edinburgh”.
It is noteworthy that after the exercise, Shalva Gogoladze visited the “Shevardeni” detention base, which was fully rehabilitated with the joint participation of the Georgian Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Foundation “Georgian” and the Rugby Union.
It is also worth noting that the Georgian Rugby Union is negotiating the participation of the “Black Lion” in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and maybe soon the Georgian club will compete in the championship.
The confrontation between “Black Lion” and “Vani” will start at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium on December 7, at 17:00.
Black Lion
The Black Lion (Georgian Lomi) is a Tbilisi-based professional Georgian rugby union side that participates in the Rugby Europe Super Cup every year.
In South Africa, they participated in the Currie Cup First Division in 2022 as well. Black Lion and the Cheetahs have been invited to play in the European Challenge Cup, which is the second division of European club rugby, in 2023–24.
