Georgia propose prop for North XV

The Georgian Rugby Union has proposed to the IRB their prop Goderdzi Shvelidze for the North XV for the IRB's North vs South Rugby Aid Match to be held at Twickenham on 5 March 2005 to raise funds for the victims of the tsunami disaster. 

Shvelidze, who was born in Rustavi in Georgia in 1978 and can play at either tighthead or loosehead, plays his club rugby for Clermont Auvergne, the French Top 16 club.

Since his debut against Ireland in 1998, Shvelidze has played 29 times for Georgia. He played for Georgia at the 2003 World Cup in Australia when he was still playing for Béziers.

In motivating their nomination, Georgia spoke of him as the epitome of "the very best of traditional front row forward" and suggested that such a selection would lend credibility to the IRB's globalisation ideal and act as an incentive to other "Third Tier" rugby countries, especially those in the European Nations Cup ("Six Nations B").

Georgia hopes that there will be live coverage of the match.

The South team is virtually selected with some great names. There has, so far, been no mention of the players to make up the North team.