Nika Amashukeli

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Nika Amashukeli
Date of birth (1994-09-18) September 18, 1994 (age 27)
Place of birthTbilisi, Georgia
Rugby union career
Position(s) High Performance Referee
Refereeing career
Years Competition Apps
- Didi 10
All-Ireland League
Rugby Europe U18
U20 Championship
Rugby Europe
Continental Shield
Challenge Cup
Champions Cup
Guinness Pro14
Autumn Nations Cup
U20 Six Nations
Six Nations Championship
Correct as of 3 November 2021

Nika Amashukeli (Georgian: ნიკა ამაშუკელი) is a Georgian rugby union and World Rugby elite referee, first Georgian in high performance group, he is also first ever referee from the tier 2 rugby nations who has reached this level.

Background[]

The first ever rugby match Nika Amashukeli watched in full on TV, at his father's suggestion, was Ireland v Georgia at 2007 Rugby World Cup, which was refereed by Wayne Barnes.[1][2][3] Surprisingly so after 13 years, in 2020 Nika and Wayne refereed a match together in Autumn Nations Cup between Scotland and France.

Nika started playing rugby for Jiki at the age of 11. He played as a flanker then inside centre, and as an outside centre for Georgia at U17, U18 and U19 levels.[3] He was selected for Georgia U18 team for . By the age of 20 he had already suffered 5 concussions. He’d also broken an ankle, and there was a knee problem. Head injuries affected his mental health at that time; eventually he decided to retire from playing.[2]

Refereeing career[]

In 2013 Georgian Rugby Union started a program aimed at improving the standard of Georgian referees; a new relationship with IRFU has started. This included Irish referees regularly officiating Georgian domestic league matches, Georgian referees officiating All-Ireland League matches and attending IRFU workshops.[4] Nika was among the first young referees recruited through this program in 2013. His first match in Ireland was between Old Christians and St Mary’s in the Munster Junior League.[3]

In 2016 in an incident after a Georgian domestic league match between Batumi and Army Nika Amashukeli was wounded in the leg with a sharp object by one of the Army club officials.[5][6]

In 2019 he attracted rugby followers' attention when during the U20 Six Nations match he was temporarily substituted after a blood injury.[7] Nika left the field, stitched the cutting and happily returned in 12 minutes to finish the match.

Highlight of Nika's career was U20 World cup in 2019 Argentina, where the World Rugby was highly impressed with emerging Georgian talent as afterwards he got appointments from Joel Jutge to referee in EPCR competitions.[8]

He was named as the best Georgian referee seven times since 2013.

After working alongside Wayne Barnes during the Autumn Nations Cup in 2020, Nika rated Wayne Barnes as the number 1 referee in the world at the moment.[9]

In 2020 Nika launched a Facebook page named «Rugby Laboratory» where he posts videos explaining basics of rugby laws to new supporters of the game.[10]

In 2021 Nika had a successful debut in July internationals, having officiated on Wales v Canada match, first ever Georgian to do tier 1 nations game. His second match Romania v Scotland was called off due to COVID-19 restrictions. Nika's pathway continued through as he got top level appointments on November internationals, set to officiate in Ireland v Japan, French Barbarians v Tonga and Wales v Australia matches.

Nika is coached and tutored by David McHugh, who is employed by Georgian Rugby Union as a Head of Referees Committee.[11][8] Nika Amashukeli claims that David McHugh has been the biggest influence on his career and changed the way he thinks.[3] Amashukeli describes McHugh as a great guy, very professional, very friendly, strong and knowledgeable manager who makes a lot of effort to improve Didi 10 referees.[3][8]

References[]

  1. ^ "ნიკა ამაშუკელი | ზღაპარი 'მარიფილდზე' და ქართული დერბი ჩელენჯ ქაფზე" (in Georgian). 26 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Introducing Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli". 29 January 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e "World Rugby profile". 13 January 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Ireland helps to raise bar for Georgian refs". irb.com. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Fact of rugby referee wounding in Poti confirmed by Rugby Union". 28 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. ^ "The Board will Discuss the "Referee Case"". 5 April 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Referee blood bin – World first?". 11 March 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "ნიკა ამაშუკელის სამსაჯო კარიერა". Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  9. ^ "ნიკა ამაშუკელი: "ბარნსი ამჟამად საუკეთესო მსაჯია და მასთან მუშაობა უდიდესი პასუხისმგებლობაა"" (in Georgian). 25 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  10. ^ "რაგბის ლაბორატორია როგორ უნდა მოხდეს სარაგბო ცნობიერების ამაღლება ამაშუკელის ახალი პროექტი" (in Georgian). 8 August 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Owen Doyle: Mixed bag from Wayne Barnes as he continues race for referee gold". 6 April 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.

External links[]


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