Dimitri Basilaia (born 27, November, 1985) is a 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 who plays for

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

Club career

Basilaia left

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 ...

and joined Clermont, playing in the Espoirs side. After being unable to break into the Clermont first team, he left for

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 Morlaàs in 2008. Basilaia went on to play for four clubs in

in four seasons, with one season spells at Le Bugue, Aubenas and Valence d'Agen. After his performances for

at the 2011 World Cup he was signed by

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 2012 and he became the first ever

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

to play in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. He joined

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

in May 2014.

International career

Basilaia made his debut for Georgia in 2008, scoring a try against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and becoming first choice for the ENC that year. However, after 2008, Basilaia lost his place in the Georgia side as

Mamuka Gorgodze Mamuka Gorgodze ( ka, მამუკა გორგოძე) (born 14 July 1984) is a Georgian former rugby union player, who played in the top French professional rugby competition, the Top 14. He played for Toulon, having signed with the cl ...

changed position from

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

to number 8. Basilaia made limited appearances for Georgia, either as a sub or in weakened sides, for the next couple of years. After not playing for 19 months, Basilaia returned to the Georgian side before the 2011 World Cup in the

IRB Nations Cup The Nations Cup is a rugby union competition that was first held in 2006 at Estádio Universitário in Lisbon with Argentina A, Italy A, Portugal and Russia taking part. The tournament is part of the International Rugby Board's US $50 million St ...

in June, and made the Georgian World Cup squad. He was one of Georgia's most impressive players during the tournament, starting three matches and scoring a try against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Notes and references

1985 births Living people Edinburgh Rugby players Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Scotland Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in France Georgia international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Tbilisi {{Georgia-rugbyunion-bio-stub