thumb|right|Antim Cup

The Antim Cup (; ) is contested between the rugby union teams of Romania (The Oaks) and Georgia ("The Lelos"). It is named in honor of Anthim the Iberian, a Georgian theologian who served as Metropolitan of Wallachia and was a significant cultural figure for both Romania and Georgia.

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

History

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 Ivireanul (Romanian version) (c. 1650–1716). The Rugby Supporters' League (RML) of Georgia approached the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II 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 union player Gia Japaridze, who cast the cup in gilded bronze.

The current holder is Georgia, who defeated Romania 53–30 on 8 March 2026 in Tbilisi.

Results

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width=65%

!Year

!Date

!Home

!Score

!Away

!Cup holder

!Venue

|-

|2002

|6 April

|Georgia

|23–31

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2003

|30 March

|Georgia

|6–19

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2004

|27 May

|Romania

|25–18

|Georgia

|

|Agronomia Stadium, Iași

|-

|2005

|12 March

|Georgia

|20–13

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2006

|25 February

|Romania

|35–10

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Ghencea II, Bucharest

|-

|2007

|3 February

|Romania

|17–20

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Dinamo II, Bucharest

|-

|2008

|9 February

|Georgia

|22–7

|Romania

|

|Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2009

|14 March

|Georgia

|28–23

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2010

|13 March

|Romania

|22–10

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest

|-

|2011

|12 March

|Georgia

|18–11

|Romania

|

|Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2012

|10 March

|Romania

|13–19

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest

|-

|2013

|16 March

|Romania

|9–9

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest

|-

|2014

|15 March

|Georgia

|22–9

|Romania

|

|Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2015

|21 March

|Romania

|6–15

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest

|-

|2016

|19 March

|Georgia

|38–9

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

|-

|2017

|19 March

|Romania

|8–7

|Georgia

|

|Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest

|-

|2018

|18 March

|Georgia

|25–16

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

|-

|2019

|9 February

|Romania

|9–18

|Georgia

|

|Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca

|-

|2020

|1 February

|Georgia

|41–13

|Romania

|

|Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

|-

|2021

|28 March

|Georgia

|28–17

|Romania

|

|Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2022

|12 March

|Romania

|23–26

|Georgia

|

|Arcul de Triumf Stadium, Bucharest

|-

| rowspan="2" |2023

|5 March

|Georgia

|31–7

|Romania

|

|Achvala Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|12 August

|Georgia

|56–6

|Romania

|

|Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2024

|2 March

|Georgia

|43–5

|Romania

|

|Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2025

|2 March

|Georgia

|43–5

|Romania

|

|Achvala Stadium, Tbilisi

|-

|2026

|7 March

|Georgia

|53–30

|Romania

|

|Achvala Stadium, Tbilisi

|}

Summary

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

!width="120"| Venue

!width="120"| Played

!width="120"| Won by<br />

!width="120"| Won by<br />

!width="120"| Drawn

!width="120"| Georgia points

!width="120"| Romania points

|-

| align=left|In Georgia

| 16

| 14

| 2

| 0

| 497

| 220

|-

| align=left|In Romania

| 10

| 5

| 4

| 1

| 152

| 167

|-

| align=left|Overall

| 26

| 19

| 6

| 1

| 643

| 387

|}

Honours

  • (20): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 (2), 2024, 2025, 2026
  • (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2017

See also

  • History of rugby union matches between Georgia and Romania
  • Kiseleff Cup

References

  • Trophies from rugbyfootballhistory.com