Beka Gigashvili

We know good things come to those who wait, but for this Georgian prop the hard work climbing the rugby ladder strengthened him

- ALAN DYMOCK

THOSE FOREARMS and all his other ink. Ask Beka Gigashvili what it all means and he’ll tell you about family, team bonding, and the desire to keep moving forward and upwards. But etching such motivators onto his skin took some time.

Actually, that’s not true. It was more that there was a bit of time between needle buzzes – he got his first tattoo in France in 2014, but it wasn’t until we were all twiddling our thumbs during the Covid pandemic that he went on and got the majority of the artwork we see. He was moved to.

“I always wanted more tattoos but I never had anyone to draw it,” he says. “Then I decided to do it – I had a lot more time for this but also the will. I think I will get more when I have more time!”

This, if you’ll forgive us, is a nice illustration of a character point. Because no matter your designs, the first moves can be tough. You have to get underway and there is bravery in getting started. So 2014 was memorable for another very obvious reason in that Gigashvili moved to France. “It was hard from the beginning,” he explains. “I was away from my family. But in another way it was life-changing. Because I was becoming a professional in rugby, a big change.

“Before moving to France, I wasn’t even thinking of this. But one day a player I know who was already playing in France called me and said this was the right situation for me. So after this I accepted a move, of course. That’s when I first began thinking about living in France.