Vakhtang Abdaladze (born 6 February 1996), is a rugby union player who plays as a tighthead prop. He currently plays for

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was 75 ...

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 ...

. Abdaladze was born in Georgia and raised in Ireland, he has played for Ireland U-20s and in 2022 was capped 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 ...

senior men's team.

Early life

Born in

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

, Abdaladze moved to

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 ...

with his family at the age of 5, where they settled in the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

suburb of

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern Counties of Ireland, county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchards ...

. Abdaladze was more interested in football than rugby for most of his childhood, but started playing rugby for

Coolmine RFC Coolmine Rugby Football club is a rugby union club located at Ashbrook, near the suburbs of Castleknock and Blanchardstown in west County Dublin, Ireland, playing in Division 2A of the Leinster League. The club was established in 1980. Coolmi ...

at the age of 12 and was originally a centre. His father Nick coached him at u-17 level at Coolmine, himself having played number 8 for the

Georgia national rugby union team The Georgia national rugby union team (Georgian: საქართველოს მორაგბეთა ეროვნული ნაკრები), nicknamed The Borjgalosnebi (''The Men of the Borjgali'' i.e. the traditional Georgi ...

. After moving to

Clontarf F.C. Clontarf Football Club is an Republic of Ireland, Irish rugby union club based in Clontarf, Dublin and playing, as of 2018, in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. History Having played firstly in a field a ...

, coaches there converted the young centre to his current position of prop, noticing he had the physical attributes required to play in the front row.

Leinster Rugby

Having missed out on an academy place after leaving school, Abdaladze spent three years combining full-time studies in

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

with the grind of the sub-academy. Eventually, strong performances in the

AIL Ail or AIL may refer to: * Illness, a state of poor health * Ail (''Sailor Moon''), a character in the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series * Acceptance in lieu, an arrangement in the UK for accepting works of art etc. in lieu of tax * Agilus, a Frankis ...

for

meant he was a late addition to the Leinster academy in the middle of the 2017–18 season, at the unusual age of nearly 22. Within weeks he had also made his debut for the senior team. Abdaladze was then awarded his first senior contract ahead of the 2018–19 season after spending less than a year in the academy. He scored a try against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

on his second appearance for the province.

Ireland

Abdaladze was not selected for the Ireland U-20s for the

2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held in February and March 2016. Wales won the tournament, the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam. Final table Results Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 R ...

, but as with making the

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby ...

academy he was eventually rewarded for his efforts when being named in the Ireland squad for the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...

. Ireland achieved their best ever tournament placing of runners-up, eventually losing to the England U-20s in the final. Abdaladze was part of the side that beat the New Zealand U-20s for the first time ever at the tournament.

Georgia

Abdaladze made his international debut for

on 6 November 2022 coming on as a substitute 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 ...

in the

2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2022 end of year rugby union tests, also known as the 2022 Autumn internationals, were a number of rugby union test matches played during the months of October and November. Some of the games were known as the Autumn Nations Series for marketin ...

References

External links

* *
Leinster ProfilePro14 Profile
1996 births Living people Irish people of Georgian descent Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Rugby union props Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Georgia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Kutaisi {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub