Val Rapava-Ruskin (born 12 October 1992) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 currently playing for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

in the

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

Early career

Val Rapava Ruskin has been in many clubs around the world. He left his native Georgia when he was two years old and grew up in England. His first club was Blackheath. In 2011, he moved to South Africa and joined

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

to play U19

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

. He captained Georgia U19 the same year. Then, he was back in England and played a few games for Saracens Storm in the A-League. In 2013, he moved to French giants

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 ...

, playing for their (U23) team

Professional career

During his season with Toulon, Val Rapava Ruskin had a trial for Worcester Warriors. He made his first professional appearance for the club 20 September 2014 against Doncaster at just 21 years old. Since his debut, he has scored five tries in the RFU Championship, including two against Rotherham Titans in October 2014. On 10 January 2017, Ruskin left Worcester at Sixways to join local rivals

from the 2017–18 season. In June 2019 he was one of four uncapped players named in England's preliminary World Cup training squad. In the summer of 2023 he was named for the training squad of the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

before the summer games and the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

Career statistics

References

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/wrfc/11530333.Worcester_Warriors__Georgian_prop_Val_Rapava_Ruskin_eyes_international_chance/
http://www.warriors.co.uk/rugby/players/index.php?player=118285&includeref=dynamic
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/CurrieCup/Georgian-to-be-WPs-player-23-20110720 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapava-Ruskin, Val 1992 births Living people Rugby union props Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) in France Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in England Worcester Warriors players Gloucester Rugby players English rugby union players