Georgia crushed enemy Russia 46-0 at a politically-charged rugby match on Saturday in the first major encounter between the ex-Soviet states on Georgian soil since their 2008 war.
A joyous Georgian crowd with vivid memories of Russian troops inflicting a humiliating defeat on their country was ecstatic after the European Nations Cup game at the packed 30,000-capacity Mikheil Meski stadium.
“It’s an extraordinary victory, a day of great joy for us,” one fan, Alexi Salaia, told AFP.
Georgia’s pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili also appeared jubilant while he watched from the stands as his country’s team outclassed the Russians.
“We were so keen to make our people happy today,” Georgia’s captain Irakli Abuseridze told a post-match news conference.
The Russian captain said, however, that his team was not affected by the continuing tensions between the neighbouring states which have not had diplomatic relations since 2008.
“We are just sportsmen. We did not feel any political influence here in Georgia on today’s match,” captain Alexander Yanyushkin told a news conference.
Having won the European Nations Cup three times, the Georgians were favoured to win the showdown between the sides in the second-tier European rugby union competition.
Many of the crowd waved Georgian flags and some booed the Russian team when they took to the pitch despite calls from the country’s rugby federation to treat the opposing players with sporting respect.
“Do not forget that the Russian rugby players are friends of the Georgian rugby players,” the president of the Georgian Rugby Union, Giorgi Nijaradze, told journalists on Friday.
Georgia’s coach also insisted that both teams were part of “one big rugby family”.
“This is a rugby match to us, nothing more. Enmity is only in the arena,” said Milton Haig, a New Zealander.
The last match between the teams a year ago in the Russian city of Sochi was soured by allegations that a Georgian player had been briefly detained and that Moscow had blocked live television broadcasts.
The only other post-war encounter in 2010 was held on neutral territory in Turkey.
Russian troops poured into Georgia in August 2008 to repel Tbilisi’s attempt to reassert control over the Moscow-backed rebel province of South Ossetia in a five-day conflict that left hundreds dead.
Moscow recognised South Ossetia and another Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia as independent states after the war and permanently stationed thousands of troops there — a move that Tbilisi regards as occupation.
Rugby has become an increasingly popular symbol of sporting patriotism for Georgia as the national team in the small Caucasus state has become more successful.
Some Georgians claim an historical affinity with rugby because an anarchic full-contact ball game called Lelo has been played in the country for generations.
The Georgian rugby team — known as the “Lelos” — take their nickname from the traditional sport.
