Davit Zirakashvili ( ka, დავით ზირაქაშვილი, born 20 September 1983) is a former Georgian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He played most of his career for Clermont in the top French professional rugby league, 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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He played as a tighthead

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors 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 ...

. He is seen as one of Georgia's finest ever rugby players and was voted Georgian sportsman of the year in 2010.

Career

Zirakashvili originally came from a wrestling background, but switched to rugby in 2000. He moved to France in 2002 to play with

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 20 ...

side Aubenas. He moved up the leagues to the

in the 2004/05 season to play with Clermont where he joined his Georgian compatriot

Goderdzi Shvelidze Goderdzi Shvelidze (born 17 April 1978, in Rustavi)Goderdzi Shvelidze player profile
Scrum.com ...

. He also made his debut for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 2004 against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. He soon became an important member of both the Clermont and Georgia side. He played in all four of the consecutive Top 14 finals Clermont reached between 2007 and 2010, he scored a try in the 2008 Top 14 final against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

and in 2010 became the first Georgian player to win the Top 14, and represented Georgia in both the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and 2011 World Cups. In 2010, Zirakashvili was voted Georgian sportsman of the year after some crucial performances for both club and country. He was part of a Georgian scrum which scored three penalty tries and also a pushover try in the calendar year, he also a memorable solo try from 45 metres out against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

and an important try against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. His scrummaging was a key factor in Georgia recording wins against both Canada and USA for the first time, whilst at club level he was part of Clermont's Top 14 winning side. Zirakashvili was also mentioned as one of the best tighthead props of the year in world rugby by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''.

References

External links

ERC Rugby profile

ESPN Scrum statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zirakashvili, Davit 1983 births Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Living people People from Rustavi ASM Clermont Auvergne players Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in France Georgia international rugby union players Rugby union props