Black Lion (rugby union)

The Black Lion (Georgian: შავი ლომი Shavi Lomi) is a professional Georgian rugby union team based in Tbilisi that competes annually in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.

They also competed in the Currie Cup First Division in South Africa in 2022. Black Lion will compete in the European Challenge Cup, the second tier of European club rugby, during the 2023-24 season as an invited team along with Cheetahs.

History
The franchise was created in 2021 to participate in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. It is owned by the Georgian Federation, which employs the players. All the players are without clubs or playing in the Georgia league (Didi 10). Players are made available to Didi 10 clubs when they have no obligations with their franchise, up to a limit of 4 per club. Georgian club joins into Currie Cup First Division since 2022. In Spring 2023, Black Lion toured South America, playing against the professional sides featuring in Super Rugby Americas. They defeated the club sides they faced, but were narrowly defeated 28-24 by a South America XV squad in Montevideo.

In June 2023, Black Lion applied to take part in the European Challenge Cup, the second tier of European club Rugby. On July 6, 2023, it was announced that their application was successful and will participate in the Challenge Cup for the 2023-24 season as one of two invited teams. Black Lion will be the first Georgian rugby team to ever play in the Challenge Cup tournament. On 15 December 2023 Black Lion won their first match in the competition, defeating Welsh hosts Scarlets.

Name
The name of the franchise has several inspirations. The players of the national team are sometimes nicknamed the lions, in reference to an (unofficial) anthem of the national team, which says: "freedom is the property of the lions". Also this is similar to the Georgian Rugby Union's slogan, "Freedom is a lion's destiny". The second inspiration comes from Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani, one of whose most famous works is the painting Black Lion. The club logo is a reinterpretation of the lion's face in a style reminiscent of a fusion of the Georgian letters შ (shini) and ლ (lasi), the initials of the club's name, in the unique typeface of the Georgian alphabet.

Honors

 * Rugby Europe Super Cup
 * Winners: 2021-22, 2022, 2023

Current squad
The Black Lions squad for 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup is:

Current coaching staff
The current coaching staff for the Black Lion team: