Levan Maisashvili walks out on Georgia
The head coach of Georgia, Levan Maisashvili, has resigned his position just five days after the union denied he was leaving his role.
Although Georgia managed a draw with Portugal, they failed to win a match at the Rugby World Cup in what was perceived as a disappointing showing from the rising stars of Tier 2 rugby.
“I’m a little bit disappointed because we didn’t achieve our target, what was our goal, but one thing I can say is we played against tier one countries every game,” said Maisashvili. “Results of course is not what we want, but we played every game and never gave up.”
Now they have had to walk it back. A statement reads: “Levan Maisashvili, the head coach of the Lelos, left his position. He made this decision after returning from the World Cup in France.
“The 47-year-old specialist also left the post of head coach of the first professional Georgian franchise, “Black Lion”, which will try to win the Rugby Europe Super Cup for the third time in a row in November-December, after which it will participate in the second European club tournament, the Challenge Cup, for the first time in history.
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“Levan Maisashvili started coaching in his native club Lelos in 1994 and trained children and teenagers until 2001, and from 2001 he became the head coach of the Lelos men’s team and until 2019, the team won the Georgian championship 6 times, the national cup 3 times, 7 times He was named the best Georgian coach.
“At the international level, he coached the under-18 and under-19 rugby teams of Georgia, as well as the “A” and developing teams of Georgia.
“In 2016-2019, he was an assistant to the former head coach, Milton Haig, and in 2020, he was appointed as the Lelos head coach. Under Maisashvili’s leadership, Georgia played 40 games, out of which they won 24, drew three and conceded 13.”
In the last four years, the Lelos have won the European Rugby Championship four times. In 2020 and 2021, the team played several memorable games against Tier 1 teams. They participated in the Autumn Cup of Nations; held test matches against the world champion South Africa and France; and held Fiji to a 15-15 draw.
The most successful year was 2022, when Georgia defeated a Tier 1 team for the first time in history and went on to make it two in a row. In July in Batumi, The Lelos beat Italy 28:19 and then in November they beat Wales 13-12 in Cardiff.
From 2021, Maisashvili took over the Black Lion, which is the base team of the national team, and together with him he won the European Rugby Super Cup twice (in two years, 16 games, 13 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses). In 2022, the Georgian franchise played in the domestic championship of South Africa – Khari Kafi, where they won five games and lost two, and this year they were on a South American tour and played against the southern franchises without competition.
“Georgian Rugby thanks Levan Maisashvili for his work and wishes him success in his future activities.”
The search for a new head coach of Lelos and Black Lion has already begun, the union have said.
Comments on RugbyPass
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments