Breaking the mould

In the land of wrestling monsters, DAVIT NINIASHVILI is the posterboy for adventurous back play

- ALAN DYMOCK

HE’S GOT more steps than a military tattoo, sure, but there is plenty more to Davit Niniashvili’s game. There’s the aerial patrolling. The distribution. The willingness to work. The bravery in defence. Even some contortion if he ever loses balance.

Ask the Georgian about certain skills in his game though, and he cannot bite his tongue. “My kicking is f****** s***!” he blurts back at Rugby World with a grin.

This, to be clear, is the language of a 21-year-old who has an incredibly high ceiling in our sport but who looks at his game differently than perhaps the rest of us do (often slack-jawed, impressed).

And while he may be glib here, when really we know he has been working hard at his club Lyon to get even better and we’ve seen him create a long-range try for himself with a grubber and slot an impossibly-long kick from the tee, the dig at his own nudging offers a chance to find out more about the backstory of one of rugby’s most exciting talents.

The back-three star tells us first of his skill-set: “When I began in rugby I didn’t know kicking. Because before, I played at seven and six when I was young. So when I then moved I’d just one year of playing at 15. I chose this because my idol is Israel Folau, I love how he plays. To have a chance to see him playing at the Rugby World Cup (with Tonga now), I’m really happy.”

Fans of Lyon Olympique Universitaire will be more than happy with the return they have had from Niniashvili over the past two years. He has, frankly, flown and in early 2023 he earned one of Midi Olympique’s ‘Oscars’, a reward for his superb performances in red and black. As they added in print: ‘Better than anyone, perhaps, the