Despite security situation, two international teams will be visiting Israel for the regional invitation series
It’s happening!
The Israeli Rugby Union is launching a high-quality regional tournament to be held in Israel this coming spring, dubbed IRIS (Israeli Regional Invitation Series). Israel will be represented by teams from the Northern region, led by Fijian coach Sakaraia Labalaba and the Central region, coached by Nimrod Kaplan. Guest teams will be the Fijian outfit Al Matai and Georgian club RC Army of Tbilisi. Holding the tournament in Israel at this time is a challenge, so great credit to our visiting teams for accepting the invitation. The Fijian team has longstanding ties with Israeli rugby, while the Georgian team comes as part of the strategic cooperation between the Israeli and Georgian rugby unions.
The four team series is part of the Israeli Rugby Union’s ten-year plan, aimed at qualifying for the Olympic Games and the World Cup. Players from the Central and Northern regions will be divided according to their place of residence, with an 11-player draft set to take place in April. Most of the players in the draft have played for Tel Aviv Heat in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. “The players available in the draft are ‘pathway players’ eligible to represent Israel within a few years. Tthe tournament is part of their integration process,” said Technical Director and Israel national team coach Kevin Musikanth. “The union hopes to add to the draft Jewish players from around the world who have expressed interest in representing us,” Musikanth added.
An IRIS onboarding online event will be held on Thursday, February 29th, at 12:00 PM on the Israeli Rugby Union’s Facebook page. As part of the event the public is invited to propose names for the two Israeli regional teams. Participants will include the union chairman Offer Fabian, Kevin Musikanth, Kaplan, and Northern region assistant-coach Amir Beutler.
