Wales to play Georgia in 2017 autumn series

A crowd of 69,187 watched New Zealand beat Georgia 43-10 at the Principality Stadium during the 2015 World Cup

Wales will play Georgia for the first time at the Principality Stadium in the 2017 autumn series.

The Eastern Europeans are a coming force in rugby union and have aspirations of playing in the Six Nations.

They are 12th in the world rankings - two places above Italy - but have played top-tier nations only four times outside of World Cups.

Wales will also face New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in November.

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Wales won three of their four autumn fixtures in 2016, beating South Africa, Japan and Argentina after losing to Australia.

Georgia have won the Rugby Europe Championship - Europe's second-tier competition below the Six Nations - for the last six seasons in succession.

They have already qualified for the 2019 World Cup in Japan having finished third in their group in the last tournament in England.

That campaign included a win over Tonga, while Georgia have also beaten Fiji and drawn with Samoa during the last year.