Wasps lock down 'physical' Georgian prop Zhvania

Wasps have responded to the departure of England prop Matt Mullan by confirming that loosehead prop Zurabi Zhvania has signed a new deal with the Coventry-based club.

He has committed himself to the club for the 2019/20 campaign.

The 27-year-old, who was originally brought in to replace the injured Mullan, has been in impressive form for Wasps since joining in the summer.

The Georgian is rated as the 7th best loosehead in the Gallagher Premiership in the RugbyPass Index, with an RPI of 71.

Before switching to Ricoh Arena, the Georgian prop enjoyed six seasons with Stade Francais in Paris, where he amassed over 100 senior appearances and helped the club win the domestic title in 2015 as well as the European Challenge Cup in 2017.

On the international stage, Zhvania has crossed the whitewash an impressive 11 times in his 37 appearances for Los Lelos.

Zhvania, who has made 15 Wasps appearances to date, said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time here at Wasps so far and I’ve made a lot of good friends.

“There is a good culture at the Club and I can’t wait to try and help the team push on to try and achieve success in the near future.”

Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young said: “Obviously losing Matt Mullan last year to injury was a blow but Zurabi has come in and done a tremendous job.

“He is a big, physical player who has consistently performed at the top level and I have no doubt he’ll play a key part in our scrum moving forward.”

Last week fellow-loosehead Mullan left the club with immediate effect and by mutual consent.

Mullan, 31, joined Wasps in 2013 and made 128 appearances for the Club as well as earning 17 caps for England, but was unable to feature for Wasps this season whilst recovering from a knee injury.

Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young said: “The Club wish Matt well with his next steps and thank him for his contribution to Wasps Rugby over the past five seasons.”