A STORY OF TRAGEDY, HOPE AND SALVATION
THE true healing powers of the rugby family will be amply illustrated in Georgia’s historic first clash with Wales at the Principality Stadium next weekend.
Look out for the visitors’ recordbreaking utility back Merab Kvirikashvili. His story is one of tragedy, of hope and of rugby salvation.
A veteran of three World Cup campaigns, including a game against the All Blacks in Cardiff in 2015, he sat out the recent game against Canada in Tbilisi but, with 106 caps and 833 points under his belt, the 33-year-old is set to face Wales.
There may seem nothing remarkable about him adding another cap to his collection but it will be a mere 16 months on from him being involved in a car crash which killed his wife and mother of his four children, as well as three other passengers in another car.
One of his Lelo Saracens club mates, Giorgi Lominadze, and his pregnant wife, Nusta Guntsadze, were also severely injured in the horror smash at 6pm on July 21 last year on the Kutaisi-Samtredia highway, some 261km outside Tbilisi.
While both players and their wives ended up in intensive care, three people in the other car in the head-on collision all died – Giorgi Papaskiri, 26, and his wife Nutsa Kalandaria, 25, who left a two-year- old daughter, as well as their friend, Ani Chkhaidze, 25.
Ten days after the accident Kvirikashvili’s wife died, leaving him to recover from his own injuries and support his young family.
The incident rocked the rugby community in the Eastern European country but, more than a year on, the sport has helped Kvirikashvili get back on track.
On Saturday he will go head-tohead with Wales’ big names on the international stage as he attempts to convince the old guard that Georgia are good enough to be included in the Six Nations.
“It has been a very emotional time for Merab, a real rollercoaster,” said Georgian head coach Milton Haig.
“A few weeks after the accident I told him I thought rugby would help him to take his mind off things and give him something on which to focus.”
Losing his wife understandably rocked Kvirikashvili to his core and he took time away from rugby to grieve.
Last November he returned to action with the Lelo Saracens, starting in a 28-22 defeat to Japan in Tbilisi, kicking two conversions and a penalty.
It was the beginning of the healing process.
Kvirikashvili has been a regular in the Georgian side ever since, playing eight times this year to take his total of international caps through the century mark.
Capable of playing at either fullback or scrum-half, Kvirikashvili is one of the most experienced campaigners in Haig’s side and is at the top of his game.
“I can’t imagine how you can get yourself through something like he’s been through and I don’t know how Merab has managed to keep going,” said Haig.
“But when he comes into camp with us I think it gives him a bit of relief. Maybe that’s why he has played so well for us in the last 12 months. Everyone shared in his grief and it just shows what the rugby family can do.”
Lominadze seriously fractured both of his legs and needed multiple surgeries and his wife suffered serious head trauma as well as multiple broken facial bones.
They were flown to Turkey for specialist treatment and an appeal to raise the $220,000 needed to help pay for their treatment was launched.
The Georgian government and rugby federation donated significant amounts and the world-renowned prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili and the State Ballet of Georgia joined forces to stage a special Charity Ballet Gala to raise funds.