Merab "Meko" Kvirikashvili (born 27 December 1983) is a Georgian

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. He started his career as a scrum-half but now plays as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

and occasional fullback and is the all-time leading points scorer for the

Georgia national rugby union team The Georgia national rugby union team, nicknamed The Lelos, is administered by the Georgia Rugby Union, Georgian Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Rugby Europe International Championships, Rugby Europe Championship, and the Rugby W ...

. He has also represented the

Georgia national rugby league team The Georgia national rugby league team represented Georgia in rugby league football. It played its first international game in 2005. The Georgian team play in a red jersey with a white cross on the front. Before a match, they performed their own ...

and

Georgia national rugby sevens team The Georgia national rugby sevens team is a minor national sevens side. They have featured at the Rugby World Cup Sevens on four occasions and compete annually at the Rugby Europe Sevens. They have occasionally qualified for the World Rugby Se ...

Domestic career

Kvirikashvili was born 27 December 1983,

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union. He left Georgia in 2006 for

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

side Pau, and has since moved on to three other French clubs in

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 ...

in Massy, Figeac and most recently Saint-Junien where he joined after the 2011 World Cup and currently plays. He has not spent more than two seasons at one club during his stay in France.

International career

Kvirikashvili made his Georgia debut as a teenager in 2003 against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and made the squad for Georgia's first ever appearance in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

later that year, playing in all four of Georgia's matches from the bench. However he failed to establish himself in the Georgian side over the next couple of years, with

Irakli Abuseridze Irakli Abuseridze ( ka, ირაკლი აბუსერიძე, ; born November 25, 1977, in Tbilisi) is a Georgian former rugby union player. He played as a scrum-half. Abuseridze is the third the most capped player of all time for the G ...

and

Bidzina Samkharadze Bidzina Samkharadze ( ka, ბიძინა სამხარაძე, born 2 October 1983 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for professional SuperLiga club Timișoara Saracens. Clubs career During his ca ...

both ahead of him for selection in the scrum half position. But in 2007 he switched to fly half and in his first start for his country in the position Georgia beat

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

away in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, he has remained a regular member of the Georgian side ever since. He was an important player in Georgia's 2007 World Cup campaign, starting all four matches and he showed good form against Ireland as Georgia narrowly lost 14–10 and was named man of the match in Georgia's first ever World Cup win against

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. After the 2007 World Cup Kvirikashvili was moved to full back to accommodate a new fly half

Lasha Malaghuradze Lasha Malaghuradze (born 2 June 1986 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian rugby union player. His usual position is fly-half. He played for Qochebi Tbilisi, where he won 2007 Georgia Championship, before moving to AS Béziers Hérault (2008/09-2010/11). H ...

. In 2010 he broke a record he previously shared with

Paliko Jimsheladze Paliko Jimsheladze ( ka, პალიკო ჯიმშელაძე; born 8 July 1975 in Rustavi, Georgia) is a former Georgian rugby union player. He played as a fly-half. He twice won the Georgia Championship, for Tbilissi Tbilisi, in 1994, ...

for most points scored for Georgia in a match, with 32 points in Georgia's 77–3 thrashing of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Later that year he also kicked a last minute conversion for Georgia to defeat the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

19–17 in Tbilisi. After Malaghuradze suffered an injury and then a loss of form, Kvirikashvili returned to the first choice fly half position in 2011 helping Georgia to an undefeated season in the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament *European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fie ...

. However his fortunes were more mixed during the

later that year as he failed to replicate the good form he showed in the 2007 tournament. Notably 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 ...

, Georgia were competing well but Kvirikashvili failed to capitalise on England's indiscipline and the Georgian forwards hard work and missed five penalties which would have put Georgia in a very competitive position in the match. He recovered to a better performance scoring 17 points in the win against

in the next match, but was dropped for the final match with

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. Kvirikashvili returned to the starting position in 2012 though and started every game for Georgia that year, and with some better kicking performances he broke the Georgian record for most points scored in a calendar year.

National records

Kvirikashvili is Georgia's all-time leading points scorer, overtaking Pavle Jimsheladze's previous record during the 46–0 thrashing of

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in 2012 on his 60th cap. He also holds the record for most points scored in a match for Georgia with 32 against

in 2010. In 2012 he broke the Georgian record previously held by Pavle Jimsheladze for most points in a calendar year with 91 in 8 matches.

Road accident

In July 2016, Kvirikashvili was involved in a car accident on the Kutaisi-Samtredia highway, while travelling with fellow rugby player Giorgi Lominadze and their respective wives. Lominadze and his wife survived, but Merab's wife and mother of their four children died in hospital, as did three passengers travelling in another vehicle involved in the accident.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kvirikashvili, Merab 1983 births Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Living people Rugby union players from Tbilisi Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union scrum-halves Georgia national rugby league team players Rugby league five-eighths Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) in France Georgia international rugby union players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players Section Paloise players RC Massy players