Georgia will enter the 2023 Rugby World Cup with the fortune of having two top-class scrum halves, as Gela Aprasidze and Vasil Lobzhanidze are certain to be picked.

So, what do you know about Lobzhanidze? Well, don’t worry as we selected ten key details about the scrum-half…

Ten things you should know about Vasil Lobzhanidze

1. Born in Tbilisi on the 14th of October 1996, Vasil Lobzhanidze is the son of Davit and Nino. 

2. He comes from a big family, with one brother and three sisters, but he is the only professional rugby player.

3. His first club was RC Armazi Marneuli and started to play rugby when he was 11 years old.

4. In his first senior year (2014) he helped his home club win a Didi10, which they haven’t won since.

5. His impact was immediately felt and, in 2015, Milton Haig picked him for the European Nations Cup. He would go on to make his debut against Germany and is still one of the youngest Georgian players to play for the Lelos.

6. Did you know that he is still the youngest player ever to start in a Rugby World Cup? He was picked to play against Tonga in 2015 when he was only 18 years old and produced a man-of-the-match performance in that encounter.

7. In 2016 he was recruited by the French side CA Brive and has become a first-team regular and already amassed a total of 100 caps for Les Zébres.

8. His teammates call him “Vaska”, which is a nickname for Vasil, a name that comes from the word Basileus, the Greek word for “King”.

9. He is married, and the father of two young children.

10. The 26-year-old has already collected 68 caps for his country and started in 55 of those games, and is on the fast track to reach centurion status in the next couple of years.

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