Georgia’s Six Nations hopes dashed

Six Nations chief executive John Feehan has ruled out increased calls for reform to the northern hemisphere competition and the possible inclusion of Georgia.

Although Georgia are above Italy in the world rankings, and have won the second-tier Rugby Europe Championship for the past six seasons, Feehan has rejected any idea of introducting a promotion-relegation system.

‘It is a closed competition between the six countries, owned and controlled by the six unions concerned,’ Feehan told the Daily Mail.

‘There is no vacancy. We’re not looking at including anybody extra. I’m not saying we will never change, but right now we are perfectly happy that we have the six strongest teams in Europe in our competition.’

World Cup-winning former England coach Clive Woodward is one of the people who has spoken out about the treatment of Georgia, while their head coach, Milton Haig, has urged Feehan to outline what they need to do to to earn inclusion in the Six Nations.

'Are we closed to every scenario? No, but it takes a while to see a convincing argument – 10 or 15 years,' Feehan said. 'We have to take a good, considered view about what is right for our six unions. They would all have to agree that this is what they want. At this stage, talk of bringing in other teams is premature.'

Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images

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