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JONNY WILKINSON: His passing and running are so good, the England superstar fly-half's peerless goal kicking is just a — very big — bonus

When Georgia's rugby team plays England in Perth on Oct. 12, thousands will be watching on big screens in downtown Tbilisi. In the former Soviet republic, rugby is now second only to football in popularity, especially since the national team beat arch rivals Russia to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. But most local teams don't have stadiums to play in, the players pay their own way to matches, and "if they swap shirts at the end of a game," says sports journalist Paata Tortadze, "they may find themselves without kit the next week."

In places like Georgia,...

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