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Name: Vasil Kakovin (ვასილ კაკოვინი)
Date of Birth: 01.12.1989 (22 years old)
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Position: Loosehead / Tighthead prop
Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight: 108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
Current Club:
 Toulouse |
Domestic Career
2010 - 12
Brive (38)
2012 –
Toulouse |
International Career
Debut: 2008 (vs
 Scotland A)
Caps: 18
Tries: 0
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Vasil Kakovin (pronounced Kakovini with and e sound at the end) has risen quickly over the past year to become one of the best props in the Top 14, he is Georgian first choice loosehead prop currently, and after a great 2011/2012 season with Brive he has been signed by the most successful team in European rugby history in Toulouse.
He is one of the lightest modern international props weighing under 110kg and is ultra effective in loose play, and despite not being the heaviest prop he is also a good scrummager.
Aged still only 22, Kakovin has the potential to become one of the best props in the world and will play a key part in Georgia's future in the long term.
He is one of the lightest modern international props weighing under 110kg and is ultra effective in loose play, and despite not being the heaviest prop he is also a good scrummager.
Aged still only 22, Kakovin has the potential to become one of the best props in the world and will play a key part in Georgia's future in the long term.
Early Career
Kakovin started his career with Georgia as back rower, as a 17 year old he played either flanker or number 8 in the Under 19 World Cup for Georgia.
A year later in 2008, he played in the inaugural Junior World Rugby Trophy (an Under 20’s World Cup for tier 2 nations) as a versatile front rower, starting at either hooker or prop.
Youngest ever capped Georgian prop
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| Kakovin with the Georgia Under 20's in 2008 |
Soon after Junior World Rugby Trophy, Kakovin won his first Georgia cap before his 19th birthday against Scotland A in November 2008, and holds the record for youngest ever Georgian prop on debut, and is one of just seven other front rowers to be capped as 18 year olds.
Although he was only called up due to a very large amount of players being unavailable for selection due to French clubs not releasing players, which due to the large amount of front rowers in France meant that his positions were especially effected. The side was so weak it was referred to as Georgia A by Georgia themselves but caps were still awarded and Kakovin made his debut in a heavy loss to the Scots.
He featured again in another weakened Georgian side in the 2009 Churchill Cup that lost all it’s matches, however the scrum was one impressive area and the 19 year old Kakovin playing at prop impressed and came out of the series well. The youngster continued to be part of the Georgian squad when the plethora of props playing in the French top divisions were unavailable, after the 2010 IRB Nations Cup he signed with Top 14 side Brive, it was as this point where he stopped playing hooker and focused on being a specialist prop.
As he was still very young for a prop just aged 20, Kakovin was expected just to play mainly with the Espoirs (the academy/reserve side) in his first season at Brive, but he managed to play 20 matches throughout his first season, mainly as an impact sub from the bench, just starting four of those matches.
He featured again in another weakened Georgian side in the 2009 Churchill Cup that lost all it’s matches, however the scrum was one impressive area and the 19 year old Kakovin playing at prop impressed and came out of the series well. The youngster continued to be part of the Georgian squad when the plethora of props playing in the French top divisions were unavailable, after the 2010 IRB Nations Cup he signed with Top 14 side Brive, it was as this point where he stopped playing hooker and focused on being a specialist prop.
Rise through the ranks
As he was still very young for a prop just aged 20, Kakovin was expected just to play mainly with the Espoirs (the academy/reserve side) in his first season at Brive, but he managed to play 20 matches throughout his first season, mainly as an impact sub from the bench, just starting four of those matches.
Despite missing out on selection for Georgia’s matches in November 2010 as they had managed for a rare occasion a more full strength team, he returned to the side in June 2011 in an experimental side in preparation for the World Cup, and managed to rise above Goderzi Shvelidze and Anton Peikrishvili to become second choice Georgian loosehead prop behind his teammate at Brive Davit Khinchagishvili, and managed selection for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.
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| Kakovin on the rampage in the 2011 World Cup |
He didn’t feature in the first two matches, but after a great cameo from the bench against Romania where he added some real dynamic ball carrying for Georgia towards the end of the match, for the Georgia’s last match of the tournament against Argentina he replaced Davit Khinchagishvili who had a sub par match against the Romanians, and became Georgia’s number one loosehead.
Breakthrough season
He carried his good form into the Top 14, and in his first match back from the World Cup, he notably destroyed the most capped French prop of all time Sylvain Marconnet, as Brive routed Biarritz 32-7 at home. Marconnet who was subbed at half time due to the Georgian's dominance over him called Kakovin “a phenomenon” after the match.
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| Kakovin playing for Brive against Biarritz in 2011 |
As well as with Georgia, Kakovin went past Khinchagishvili as Brive’s first choice prop, and later he was named in the Midi Olympique team of the first half of the season, the newspaper described him as a “little bull” who was “very mobile, dynamic with ball in hand, and also excels at the scrum area”.
His success meant that several much bigger teams than Brive were hunting his signature, in the end the four times European Champions Toulouse beat off competition from Clermont, Toulon and Racing-Métro, and signed him to replace the retiring South African international Daan Human at the club.
His success meant that several much bigger teams than Brive were hunting his signature, in the end the four times European Champions Toulouse beat off competition from Clermont, Toulon and Racing-Métro, and signed him to replace the retiring South African international Daan Human at the club.
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