“IHow long will it take? No, but because I speak slowly!” The interview has not yet started and Beka Gigashvili, the Georgian colossus, is already laughing. Behind his 78 meter and 117 kg, the right pillar has a smile. His season, hampered by a nasty adductor injury, has just (finally) started. “I couldn’t wait! It was really long”he blurted out, relieved.
It must be said that Beka Gigashvili was not really lucky. He says: “I got injured just before the official start of the season in La Rochelle. It was the first time that I was able to do all the preparation with Toulon. In previous years, I was with the Georgia team. There, I I was at full strength, in great shape. Unfortunately, on Friday just before the match, my adductors gave out during contact training, it was very difficult to accept. that all my work fell to water.”
The strength of those close to him…
Far from the field, Beka Gigasvhili took refuge in what is most dear to him: his family. During her injury, her second child, little Anastasia, was born on September 30. He says: “I already had a little boy, Alexander. So now, a girl, that’s incredible. They helped me a lot during this period. I’ll say it easily, my family got me through this stage. It’s the first time I’ve been injured for so long. It was new and strange. But if I’m here, it’s because of them. Every day when I wake up, I think of them. sleep, I think of them I also think of rugby, eh (smile)! But family is wonderful.”
During his three months without rugby, the international right pillar (32 years old, 44 caps) discovered the life of the injured. Not necessarily very happy. He whispers: “Oh my! Those who know me know: I’m impatient. I always want to play. There, for three months, I had my head down a bit at home. I wasn’t necessarily good mood (laughs). And it was worse when the season really started. It was even harder. I couldn’t understand that I couldn’t play.”
Behind his tough appearance and his imposing physique, what is Beka Gigashvili like, injured at home? Does he need to talk? To confide? He smiles and opens up easily: “No matter what you look like, when you go home, you talk to your family. That’s life. In any case, it’s mine. So yes, I needed it. And above all, it gave me feels good!”
An adductor operation, a 15-day stint in Capbreton and re-athletics later, Beka Gigashvili returned to the group. “Everything went as planned. I even had a week early”he specifies. In the team, the pillar found a serious client in his position: Kyle Sinckler. Unbreakable since his arrival. A hell of a challenge for the Georgian: “He’s an exceptional right pillar. Obviously, when you see someone so strong coming to your position, you want to be the best, to push harder, to gain strength as quickly as possible. We we are competitors but, above all, there is friendship and respect here, it’s family. That’s the only way to move forward, I’m sure.
…even at more than 4,000 kilometers
Here again, even when talking about rugby, the native of Tbilisi finds a key point: family. The one he is obviously thinking about at a time when his country, Georgia, is in the grip of extreme tensions after the election of Mikheïl Kavelashvili, the new pro-Russian president. You just have to approach the subject with the right pillar to see his eyes close. And his eyes become misty: “I don’t want to talk about politics, but when I see what’s happening in my country, and I’m here, not being able to do anything, it’s difficult to manage. I can neither go there nor to be with the people I love. So I check in on the phone often, but watching this situation from afar is complicated.”
Very attached to his country and his selection, Beka Gigashvili will continue to play for the Lelos “as long as we call it”. And to proclaim his love for this jersey: “It’s so powerful. I’m playing for my country, for my family there, for my flag. That’s the most important thing. It’s an opportunity to show the whole world that Georgia exists. I can die for my country and for this flag.”
Upright and faithful, Beka Gigashvili brings everything that he is to this Toulon. And that’s why he extended it last year until 2027. Holy Beka.
