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The 'brilliant bloke' Gloucester verdict on their Georgian gamble

(Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images for Gloucester Rugby)

Gloucester boss George Skivington has given his verdict on Giorgi Kveseladze, the unheralded Georgian international that the Gallagher Premiership club took a punt on in December 2020 just weeks after he scored an Autumn Nations Cup try versus Ireland. At the time he was a 23-year-old semi-pro playing for RC Armazi Marneuli. However, that mesmerising solo Test try put him on the radar after it left the legendary Irish midfielder Brian O’Driscoll, a veteran of four successive Lions tours, singing his praises on Twitter.

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“If I was a European club looking for a centre next year (contract dependent) I’d be having a serious look at Giorgi Kveseladze (13) for Georgia. Besides the excellent try, he really gets the defensive part of his game too. Abrasive and hard working. Could have been MOTM.”

While outside centre Kveseladze wasn’t the man of the match that afternoon, his score was voted the best try of the Autumn Nations Cup and it wasn’t long before Gloucester snapped him up. Sixteen months later he has played on 14 occasions for the English club and is set to make his 15th appearance when starting in Wednesday night’s Premiership Cup semi-final at Kingsholm versus Worcester. 

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All the while at Gloucester, Kveseladze has kept his international career ticking over, starting against France last November and helping Georgia to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. How then does Gloucester rate his progress? “Giorgi is a quality player,” said Skiviongton when asked by RugbyPass for his assessment of the Georgian’s development since his switch to full-time rugby in England.

“You remember that try he scored against Ireland, it was outstanding. There is obviously a period of getting used to the intensity of the Premiership and the way things are done, but he has been brilliant. He works unbelievably hard, he is working at his game and learning English. He is really working hard to be a part of it and he has got a really bright future. 

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“There has not been enough rugby probably this year to really break him into the scene and he has been away with Georgia quite a few times throughout the year for games, so the balance hasn’t been exactly where we want it to be with how much we have had our hands on him. But in terms of a rugby player and a bloke, he is a brilliant bloke and I think he has got real scope to be a really talented rugby player. 

“What Giorgi does well is he came in very raw, he could almost shoot out of the defensive line and then somehow make a misread and come back it and cover it. That’s really impressive but what we want him to do is use that energy at the right times and be in the systems and that sort of thing.

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“When he has, he had a great game against Bristol in the Prem Cup last time around. He played twelve, as he is against Worcester, and I thought he was outstanding. I then had a conversation with him about how much he has played at twelve and he said he actually likes playing twelve. 

“His progress is gradual. As I say, we would like to have more time with him than we have the last season because he has been over in Georgia a fair few times playing games for them. It takes a little bit of time but I have a lot of faith that he will be a very, very good player.”

Does the potential long-term success of Kveseladze in the game encourage Skivington to go off-road again to recruit similar unknown overseas talents for Gloucester? “I’m very open. Our big focus is on young English players from Gloucester. That is the route that we are going down. 

“But guys like Giorgi, if you can find gems from other nations, especially ones in leagues that are not necessarily of Premiership standard, if you can find quality within that that is obviously brilliant. It’s easier said than done but absolutely, I am very open to bringing anyone in who is hungry and wants to learn.”

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1 Comment
D
Daniel 921 days ago

Everybody has a crush on Giorgi. Even camera director of yesterday's game...

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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