Grigol Labadze, better known as Gia Labadze (born 21 September 1973 in Tbilisi) is a retired Georgian rugby union player. He played as a flanker or number 8.
Labadze moved to France from Russia where he was previously playing domestically in 1998 after being spotted playing for Georgia against Ireland and Romania in the 1999 World Cup qualifiers,[1] he joined Fédérale 2SO Chambéry initially before joining Toulon in 2000 where he spent the majority of his club career and was a regular part of the side for a decade, helping them to two Pro D2 titles in 2005 and 2008 and captaining them between 2006 and 2007. He left Toulon at the end of the 2008/09 season and alongside Czech winger Martin Jágr, he was given a lap of honour at Toulon's last home game of the season at the Stade Mayol.[2]
After leaving Toulon, Labadze spent the rest of his career in Fédérale 1, he joined Stade Phocéen for a single season and spent his last two seasons with La Seyne before retiring from rugby in 2012.[3]
International careeredit
Labadze played for the Soviet Union at age grade level,[4] and made his debut for Georgia in 1996 against Czech Republic.[5] He was a mainstay of the national side from his debut for 15 years, playing in Georgia's first two World Cup campaigns in 2003 and 2007 and captaining the side on six occasions. He hoped to make Georgia's squad for the 2011 World Cup but failed to do so. However he received a surprise recall aged 38 to the side for the 2012 tour to North America before he retired from rugby.
Labadze retired with 67 caps with 12 tries and as the third most capped Georgian player of all time. And at the age of 38 in his final appearance against Canada in 2012, he is the oldest player ever to play for Georgia and tenth oldest international player of all time.
Referencesedit
^"გია ლაბაძე: "თავიდანვე მხოლოდ იმისთვის ვემზადებოდით, რომ დიდი ანგარიშით არ წაგვეგო"". worldsport.ge. 2011-12-28.
^"Toulon L'adieu du stade Mayol à Martin Jagr et Gia Labadze". varmatin.com. 2009-05-17.
^. rugbytransferts.com. 2012-05-26. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
^"გია ლაბაძე: "თავიდანვე მხოლოდ იმისთვის ვემზადებოდით, რომ დიდი ანგარიშით არ წაგვეგო"". worldsport.ge. 2011-12-28.
labadze, grigol, labadze, better, known, born, september, 1973, tbilisi, retired, georgian, rugby, union, player, played, flanker, number, date, birth, 1973, september, 1973, place, birthtbilisi, georgian, soviet, unionheight1, weight95, rugby, union, careerpo. Grigol Labadze better known as Gia Labadze born 21 September 1973 in Tbilisi is a retired Georgian rugby union player He played as a flanker or number 8 Gia LabadzeDate of birth 1973 09 21 21 September 1973 age 50 Place of birthTbilisi Georgian SSR Soviet UnionHeight1 94 m 6 ft 4 1 2 in Weight95 kg 14 st 13 lb Rugby union careerPosition s Number 8 FlankerSenior careerYearsTeamApps Points 1999 20002000 20092009 20102010 2012SO ChamberyToulonStade phoceenUS La Seyne Correct as of 30 10 2012International careerYearsTeamApps Points 1996 2012 Georgia67 60 Correct as of 31 10 2021 Contents 1 Domestic career 2 International career 3 References 4 External linksDomestic career editLabadze moved to France from Russia where he was previously playing domestically in 1998 after being spotted playing for Georgia against Ireland and Romania in the 1999 World Cup qualifiers 1 he joined Federale 2 SO Chambery initially before joining Toulon in 2000 where he spent the majority of his club career and was a regular part of the side for a decade helping them to two Pro D2 titles in 2005 and 2008 and captaining them between 2006 and 2007 He left Toulon at the end of the 2008 09 season and alongside Czech winger Martin Jagr he was given a lap of honour at Toulon s last home game of the season at the Stade Mayol 2 After leaving Toulon Labadze spent the rest of his career in Federale 1 he joined Stade Phoceen for a single season and spent his last two seasons with La Seyne before retiring from rugby in 2012 3 International career editLabadze played for the Soviet Union at age grade level 4 and made his debut for Georgia in 1996 against Czech Republic 5 He was a mainstay of the national side from his debut for 15 years playing in Georgia s first two World Cup campaigns in 2003 and 2007 and captaining the side on six occasions He hoped to make Georgia s squad for the 2011 World Cup but failed to do so However he received a surprise recall aged 38 to the side for the 2012 tour to North America before he retired from rugby Labadze retired with 67 caps with 12 tries and as the third most capped Georgian player of all time And at the age of 38 in his final appearance against Canada in 2012 he is the oldest player ever to play for Georgia and tenth oldest international player of all time References edit გია ლაბაძე თავიდანვე მხოლოდ იმისთვის ვემზადებოდით რომ დიდი ანგარიშით არ წაგვეგო worldsport ge 2011 12 28 Toulon L adieu du stade Mayol a Martin Jagr et Gia Labadze varmatin com 2009 05 17 Un ancien capitaine Toulonnais raccroche rugbytransferts com 2012 05 26 Archived from the original on 2012 05 29 Retrieved 2012 10 29 გია ლაბაძე თავიდანვე მხოლოდ იმისთვის ვემზადებოდით რომ დიდი ანგარიშით არ წაგვეგო worldsport ge 2011 12 28 Czech Republic 14 18 Georgia espnscrum com 1996 09 22 External links editGia Labadze at the World Rugby Men s Sevens Series archived Gia Labadze at ESPNscrum nbsp This biographical article relating to Georgian rugby union is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gia Labadze amp oldid 1219219443, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
