History will be made at the Principality Stadium tomorrow when Georgia play Wales in a rugby international for the very first time. The former Soviet state have been a growing force in the sport over the past decade and they are now pushing hard for inclusion in the Six Nations. Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas investigates why Georgia now has rugby very much on its mind.

Lelo Burti and the birth of modern Georgian rugby

Well, it goes way, way back to pagan times and a folk sport called lelo or Lelo Burti, which translates as Field Ball. Village vied with village on a playing area selected between two river creeks, with the local priest acting as the referee.They played with a large, heavy ball – weighing about seven kilos – which symbolized the Sun, with the priest blessing it before throwing it up to the teams. The aim of what was a full-contact, no-holds barred game was to carry the ball to a pre-marked place, the Lelo.

See more