As had been expected for a couple of months, the Georgian back row Dimitri Basilaia has now officially signed for Rabo Pro12 side Edinburgh from Fédérale 1 side Valence d'Agen.
Basilaia, who made his debut in 2008, broke into the Georgia first choice side last year and was on great form at the Rugby World Cup, playing the first three matches at number 8 and battered the Scottish, English and Romanian defences who must have sported a few bruises after playing against him. He still looked raw and his handling needed work, but just looking at his metres gained as a battering ram he was phenomenal.
Since the World Cup he has won good reviews with Valence d'Agen in his season there since signing in the summer, however he has temporarily been relegated to the Lelos bench after the loss against Spain, with Gorgodze moving back to number 8.
A large part in his signing is thanks to Michael Bradley's brief stint as advisor to former Georgia coach Richie Dixon before taking the Edinburgh job, where it is likely contacts were made, and also Bradley, a renowned canny recruiter had an opportunity to scout the Georgian team.
The opportunity to play for this season's Heineken Cup semi finalists is a brilliant one for Basilaia, who should benefit from the higher standard of rugby and improve as a player, and also get more recognition. Hopefully the move should be a good one for Georgia as well, as at 26 years old Basilaia has a lot to offer Georgian rugby in the future.
Basilaia, who made his debut in 2008, broke into the Georgia first choice side last year and was on great form at the Rugby World Cup, playing the first three matches at number 8 and battered the Scottish, English and Romanian defences who must have sported a few bruises after playing against him. He still looked raw and his handling needed work, but just looking at his metres gained as a battering ram he was phenomenal.Since the World Cup he has won good reviews with Valence d'Agen in his season there since signing in the summer, however he has temporarily been relegated to the Lelos bench after the loss against Spain, with Gorgodze moving back to number 8.
A large part in his signing is thanks to Michael Bradley's brief stint as advisor to former Georgia coach Richie Dixon before taking the Edinburgh job, where it is likely contacts were made, and also Bradley, a renowned canny recruiter had an opportunity to scout the Georgian team.
The opportunity to play for this season's Heineken Cup semi finalists is a brilliant one for Basilaia, who should benefit from the higher standard of rugby and improve as a player, and also get more recognition. Hopefully the move should be a good one for Georgia as well, as at 26 years old Basilaia has a lot to offer Georgian rugby in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment