‘Wales v Georgia Six Nations play-off is only logical’

In a play-off to determine which country should play in the 2026 Six Nations, Georgia’s head coach Richard Cockerill claims his team has “earned the right” to face Wales.

After capturing the eighth consecutive second-tier Rugby Europe Championship title, the former England hooker claims Georgia are capable enough to compete at Europe’s highest level.

Wales, which lost its second year in a row, finished bottom of the Six Nations without a game since 2023’s victory over Georgia.

In Cardiff in the 2022 fall, they were defeated by Georgia.

Why do you only receive free rein to play next year if you are only halfway through the Six Nations? Cockerill remarked.

It’s only natural for us to have the chance to compete, so it’s only natural that we do so.

“Around the world rugby match between Georgia and Wales, which will feature a player from the Six Nations for the upcoming tournament, would be the richest game,” he declared.

Georgia has placed 11th in the world’s rankings, one place ahead of Wales, who have lost 17 Test defeats in a row.

He claims that a greater challenge is required of his former Leicester side, who have already won 17 second-tier titles.

The 54-year-old told the BBC Radio Wales Breakfast programme that while the other teams are improving, particularly Spain and Romania, “we think we are probably a little bit too strong for this tournament,” for which to improve.

“We need to go get challenged and play games,” he said. We must understand how it feels to compete at the Six Nations level, since Italy had that opportunity in the early 2000s.

Cockerill does acknowledge that it’s unlikely that there will be a play-off in the near future.

“I don’t believe so,” she said. You wouldn’t want to vote for that kind of play-off if you were a Six Nations member, would you? He continued.

Because it might be you, it would be very, very difficult for you to not be in the Six Nations from both a rugby standpoint and a financial standpoint.

“It’s kind of like a Championship football team entering the Premiership, isn’t it?” You are aware that it would be the richest rugby game ever.

If we were good enough to defeat whoever finishes bottom, people would want to watch that game, and the money and profile involved in Georgian rugby would launch us into a whole new world.

When the Australian was fired in 2022, Cockerill served as part of England’s coaching staff and served as interim leader.

The former Leicester forward, who currently leads the country’s top club, Black Lion, says he is not interested in opening positions in Welsh rugby.

Warren Gatland, who resigned as Wales’ head coach during the 2025 Six Nations, is being sought as a full-time replacement. The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is looking for a new director of rugby.

Cockerill said, “I think anyone would find the Welsh job attractive.”

“It’s a fantastic nation with fantastic history and a nation that adores rugby.”

However, whoever comes in next needs to be given time to develop the players Wales require to be competitive because, in my opinion, are the current Wales players capable of competing and being successful in the Six Nations?

“I just think that they haven’t quite the quality they need at this point,” I say with all due respect to everyone.