Grigol Labadze, better known as Gia Labadze (born 21 September 1973 in

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

) is a retired Georgian rugby union player. He played as a flanker or number 8.

Domestic career

Labadze moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from

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 ...

where he was previously playing domestically in 1998 after being spotted playing 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 ...

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in the 1999 World Cup qualifiers, he joined

Fédérale 2 Fédérale 2 is a rugby union club championship division in France. It is the sixth division of rugby above Fédérale 3. Teams can earn promotion to Fédérale 1, and subsequently, to the National 2 and Nationale leagues, and on to the professio ...

SO Chambéry initially before joining

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in 2000 where he spent the majority of his club career and was a regular part of the side for a decade, helping them to two

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as 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 in ...

titles in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and captaining them between 2006 and 2007. He left Toulon at the end of the 2008/09 season and alongside Czech winger

Martin Jágr Martin Jágr (born 29 September 1979 in Prague) is a Czech rugby union footballer. He is nicknamed "Jaguar". His position on the field is on the wing. Jágr is usually considered one of the best rugby union players from his country. He was first ...

, he was given a lap of honour at Toulon's last home game of the season at the

Stade Mayol The Stade Mayol is a multi-purpose stadium in Toulon, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of RC Toulonnais. The stadium is able to hold 17,500 people. It is one of the few French stadiums to be embe ...

. After leaving Toulon, Labadze spent the rest of his career in

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 ...

, he joined Stade Phocéen for a single season and spent his last two seasons with La Seyne before retiring from rugby in 2012.

International career

Labadze played for the Soviet Union at age grade level, and made his debut for Georgia in 1996 against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He was a mainstay of the national side from his debut for 15 years, playing in Georgia's first two World Cup campaigns in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and

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 captaining the side on six occasions. He hoped to make Georgia's squad for the 2011 World Cup but failed to do so. However he received a surprise recall aged 38 to the side for the 2012 tour to North America before he retired from rugby. Labadze retired with 67 caps with 12 tries and as the third most capped Georgian player of all time. And at the age of 38 in his final appearance against Canada in 2012, he is the oldest player ever to play for Georgia and tenth oldest international player of all time.

References

External links

* * 1973 births Living people Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Rugby union flankers Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) Expatriate rugby union players in Russia Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in France Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Georgia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Tbilisi Soviet rugby union players RC Toulon players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players {{Georgia-rugbyunion-bio-stub