Antim Cup

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Antim Cup

The Antim Cup is contested between the rugby union teams of Romania ("The Oaks") and Georgia ("The Lelos"). It is named after the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Antim Iverianul, who came from Georgia.

The Antim Cup is contested each time Georgia and Romania meet in a senior international match other than World Cup matches or qualifiers. The holder retains the cup unless the challenger wins the match in normal time.

There was a motion from the Georgia Rugby Union just before the 2000 European Nations Cup decider in Tbilisi, to establish a challenge cup along the lines of the Calcutta and Bledisloe Cups to be annually played for between the Oaks and the Lelos.

It was decided that the cup should be named after Antimoz Iverieli (Georgian version) / Antim Iverianul (Romanian version) (c 1650 - 1716). The Rugby Supporters' League (RML) of Georgia approached the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia the Second, through influential go-betweens and received his blessing for the use of the name 'Antim'.

The trophy was made by Georgian sculptor and former rugby player, Guia Japaridze, who cast the cup in guilded bronze.

The current holder is Georgia, who defeated Romania on February 3, 2007 in Bucharest by 20 to 17.

[edit] Previous winners

Year	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue
2002	6 April	Georgia	23 - 31	Romania	Tbilisi
2003	30 March	Georgia	6 - 19	Romania	Tbilisi
2004	27 May	Romania	25 - 18	Georgia	Iaşi
2005	12 March	Georgia	20 - 13	Romania	Tbilisi
2006	25 February	Romania	35 - 10	Georgia	Bucharest
2007	3 February	Romania	17 - 20	Georgia	Bucharest