Rugby World Cup: 10 things you need to know about Georgia

Georgia captain Mamuka Gorgodze. Photo / Getty

The All Blacks face Georgia for the first time on Saturday, so what do we know about the Georgian rugby team?

1 - The nickname Lelos comes from lelo burti, a traditional Georgian sport similar to rugby which goes back to pagan times.

2 - The team's emblem is called a borjgali, a symbol of the sun with seven rotating wings. A Christian symbol in means eternal movement and life.

3 - Their largest win is a 98-3 thrashing of the Czech Republic in 2007 while the biggest defeat is 84-6, at the hands of England at the 2003 World Cup.

4-Georgia have a 61.53% win record - 109 from 182. That's better than Group A's Grim Reaper trio of England (57.39%), Wales (53.83%) and Australia (52.65%) and

5- Possibly a hint that they favour forward-play...Georgia's top tryscorer of all time is giant loosie Mamuka Gorgodze who had scored 25. He's actually fifth on their all-time points-scoring list.

6- Georgia's most notable wins were against Samoa in Tbilisi in 2013 (16-15) along with another home win against Japan (35-25) last year.

7 - The All Blacks have Eden Park and Georgia have the National Stadium in Tbilisi where they have a formidable record going 21 straight tests without defeat between 2004 and 2012.

8- The All Blacks have famously never lost to Scotland, Ireland and Argentina while Georgia can say the same about rivals Ukraine (9-0), Czech Republic (8-0), Germany (4-0).

9- They have been at war with Russia on a number of occasions but Georgia own them on the rugby field having won 17 of their 19 encounters since 1993.

10- For Georgia's 23-man squad to face the All Blacks, every forward has an overseas contact, while the majority of the backs play at Georgian clubs.