Beka Gigashvili ( ka, ბექა გიგაშვილი; born 17 February 1992) is a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. His position is

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, and he currently plays for

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

and the Georgia national team.

Rugby career

Gigashvilli was a latecomer to the sport, telling

Midi Olympique ' is a French bi-weekly newspaper specializing in rugby and belonging to La Dépêche du Midi group. Its headquarters are based in Toulouse while some offices are located in Paris. The first edition was published on 2 September 1929, meaning it ...

that he had not seen a rugby match until he was 20 years old. Returning from the army, he was persuaded by a friend to join a training session- six months later, he signed for

Spartak GM Moscow Spartak GM is a Russian rugby union club from Moscow. They have been accepted into the newly unified eight team Professional Rugby League for the 2010 season. It is a section of the famous Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following tea ...

in Russia. In France, Gigashvili helped SO Chambéry win the Jean Prat Trophy at the conclusion of 2016–17

Fédérale 1 The championnat de France de rugby à XV de 1re division fédérale (), a.k.a. Fédérale 1 (), is a French rugby union club competition, it is the elite of amateur rugby in France. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Français ...

season. His former coach, Cyril Villain, described Gigashvili as "versatile", "hard-working", and possessing "very good scrummaging" skills. He signed with

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

in 2017. Following the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

, Gigashvili signed with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

, a move he described as being influenced by previous successful spells at the club for compatriots including Mamuka Gorgodze, Levan Chilachava and

Konstantin Mikautadze Konstantin Mikautadze (born 1 July 1991 in Sokhumi, Georgia (country), Georgia) is a Georgian people, Georgian rugby union player. He plays Lock (rugby union), lock for Georgia rugby union team, Georgia on international level. Mikautadze also pla ...

. He made his debut in a 20-13 win against

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

in the 2019-20 European Rugby Challenge Cup in November 2019. He made a strong impression in his first season, bringing stability to the Toulon scrum and winning praise as a powerful carrier, including for his first try for ''les rouges et noir'' in a 41-19 win over Clermont. Gigashvili suffered a hamstring injury representing

against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

in the

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn rugby union internationals, Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoidin ...

, having started in all their previous games in the competition against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In February 2021, he renewed his contract with RCT until 2024. At the end of the 2021/22 season, he represented the Barbarians for the first time, starting in a 52-21 win over

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

and did the same as Georgia defeated

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

28-19 in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

, his nation's first win over a Six Nations side. Gigashvili began the

2022-23 Top 14 season The symbol , known in Unicode as hyphen-minus, is the form of hyphen most commonly used in digital documents. On most keyboards, it is the only character that resembles a minus sign or a dash, so it is also used for these. The name ''hyphen-min ...

in good try scoring form, crossing the line in victories against Clermont, Pau and

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

. He was rated as the regular season's best tighthead prop by ''Midi Olympique'', describing him as a 'nightmare' for opponents in the scrum. Gigashvili scored a try and was man-of-the-match as Toulon defeated

Benetton Rugby Benetton Rugby, also known as Benetton Treviso ( or ), is an Italian professional rugby union team based in Treviso, Veneto which competes in the United Rugby Championship, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup, Europ ...

23-0 to reach the final of the 2022-23 EPCR Challenge Cup, before starting in the final as part of a 43-19 win over

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gigashvili, Beka 1992 births Living people Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Georgia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Tbilisi Rugby union props Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) in France 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players FC Grenoble Rugby players RC Toulon players