Russia national rugby union team

The Russia national rugby union team (Russian: Сборная России по регби, Sbornaya Rossii po regbi) represents Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions, nicknamed the Bears, is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Russia women's national rugby union team.
Russia
Nickname(s)Медведи (The Bears)
EmblemRussian bear
UnionRugby Union of Russia
Head coachLyn Jones
CaptainAndrey Garbuzov
Most capsYuri Kushnarev (114)
Top scorerYuri Kushnarev (777)
Top try scorerVyacheslav Grachev (31)
Home stadiumSochi Central Stadium
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current20 (as of 09 April 2020)
Highest16 (2012)
Lowest26 (2005)
First international
Russia 27–23 Barbarian F.C.
(Moscow, Russia; 6 June 1992)
Biggest win
Denmark 7–104 Russia
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 13 May 2000)
Biggest defeat
Japan 75–3 Russia
(Tokyo, Japan; 6 November 2010)
World Cup
Appearances2 (First in 2011)
Best resultPool stage, 2011, 2019
Websitewww.rugby.ru

Russia is seen as a Tier 2 union by World Rugby.[1] The team's regular international competition is in the Rugby Europe Championship – often referred to as the Six Nations B. In addition, the team participates in World Rugby-run summer tournaments including the Nations Cup, the dormant Churchill Cup, and other international fixtures.

Russia competed in their first Rugby World Cup (RWC) in New Zealand in 2011 after qualifying as Europe 2 through their second-place finish in the 2009–10 ENC. Russia played in Pool C and finished fifth, scoring one point. Previous qualification campaigns saw elimination to Portugal ahead of the 2007 tournament and expulsion from 2003 qualifying for breaches of eligibility rules. The team also unsuccessfully attempted to qualify for the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups. They competed in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan by qualifying as Europe 1 as a result of Spain, Romania and Belgium being eliminated.

History
Georgia v. Russia, 24 March 2007

The Rugby Union of the Soviet Union was founded in 1936, although the national side did not play its first official international until 1974.

The Soviet Union took time to establish itself, but by the mid-1980s was regularly beating the likes of Italy and Romania. The team was invited to the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup, but declined on political grounds, not least the continued IRB membership of apartheid South Africa.[2]

Following the breakup of the USSR, Russian players played for the interim Commonwealth of Independent States team, which played four matches during 1991 and 1992.

The first game played by the new Russian national team took place on June 6, 1992, when Russia beat the Barbarians 27–23. Russia's first game against a full IRB member was versus Belgium four months later in the 1992/4 FIRA-AER European Trophy. That edition of the tournament saw Russia secure its first, and to-date only, win over Georgia. Russia continued to participate until realignment of FIRA-AER competitions in 2000.

The Russian national side has since played its regular competitive rugby in FIRA-AER's European Nations Cup, the second level mirror tournament to the Six Nations. Russia replaced Morocco in the top tier in 2001 after a team-record nine-game win streak and have stayed there ever since. The Russian side has yet to win the title, but has come close with second-place finishes twice, in the 2009 and the 2007-8 editions. It also secured second place in the 2009–10 combined table used in Rugby World Cup qualification.

In addition, as part of attempts to secure regular international fixtures the team has played in the now-defunct Superpowers Cup, winning the tournament once, the Nations Cup, the Churchill Cup, and most recently the IRB's International Rugby Series. The Russian side has also played representative teams including England Counties, France's equivalent side, South African Super Rugby youth and university sides, and New Zealand club teams as it seeks to vary and improve the quality of opposition.

The RUR has been attempting to gain greater participation in the autumn test window, and is now being integrated into World Rugby's global test match schedule.[1]

Rugby World Cup
Main article: Russia at the Rugby World Cup

World Cup record
World Cup record World Cup Qualification record
Year Round P W D L F A P W D L F A
1987Declined invitation-
1991Did not enterDid not enter
1995Did not qualify430112549
199941038592
2003Banned6501176114
2007Did not qualify14617382323
2011Pool Stage40045719610712291175
2015Did not qualify12705269300
2019Pool Stage40041916010406249201
Total 2/9 8 0 0 8 76 356 50 29 2 19 1328 1053

Early qualifying attempts (1987 – 2007)

The Soviet Union declined to take up its invite to take part in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup on the basis of the IRB membership by apartheid South Africa.[3] The Soviet Rugby Union was not an IRB member in time for 1991 Rugby World Cup qualifying.

In qualifying for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the first in which the national side was involved, Russia came through preliminary qualifying with wins over Poland and Georgia, before beating Germany but losing to Romania for the Eastern Europe spot.

In European qualifying for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Russia finished fourth in Pool 1 in Round B, which was not enough to progress from a group also including Italy, Georgia, Croatia, and Denmark.

The Russian national side was expelled from qualifying for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, due to eligibility issues. Spain, who Russia had beaten in qualifying, protested the fielding of three South African-born players (Johan Hendriks, Reiner Volschenck and Werner Pieterse), whom the RUR claimed had qualified through ancestry. However, the RUR did not produce documentation deemed acceptable by the IRB, and Spain were re-instated in qualification in Russia's place.[4]

In 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Russia came through European qualifying to a mini-group stage where they were pooled with Italy and Portugal. The winner would qualify directly and the second place team would continue the qualification process, with the third-placed team eliminated. After both losing heavily to Italy, Portugal and Russia met to determine progression to qualifying round 5. Russia lost the match, played in Lisbon, 26–23 and dropped out.

2011

Russia qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand as Europe 2 after finishing second in the 2008–10 European Nations Cup. This marked the team's World Cup debut, with Russia becoming the 25th side to play at the tournament, where they faced Australia, Ireland, Italy and the United States in Group C of the tournament.[5]

Despite losing all four of their games, most disappointingly a narrow defeat to the US in its opening fixture in which the Bears scored a bonus point, Russia's debut was generally viewed as a success, as the team scored the most tries (8) by a debutant in the professional era, and the most since Western Samoa in 1991, and becoming the first side to score three tries against Australia in a World Cup match since 1987.

Match Results
Date Opponent Score Venue
15 Sep 2011  United States 6–13 Stadium Taranaki, New Plymouth
20 Sep 2011  Italy 17–53 Trafalgar Park, Nelson
25 Sep 2011  Ireland 12–62 International Stadium, Rotorua
1 Oct 2011  Australia 22–68 Trafalgar Park, Nelson

2015
See also: 2015 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification

The Russian national rugby union team finished third in European qualifying for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The top two teams in the final group— Georgia and Romania — immediately qualified for the 2015 tournament. Russia, as third-place finisher in the final group, faced Uruguay in a home-and-away two-game playoff. Uruguay won on aggregate and secured the 20th and final qualifying spot for the 2015 tournament, with Russia failing to qualify.

2019
See also: 2019 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification

The Russian national rugby union team once again finished third in European qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. However, after a controversial game played by Belgium and Spain (which was originally intended to be replayed), the issue of three teams in the group stage fielding ineligible players (Belgium, Romania, and Spain) was investigated by World Rugby and Rugby Europe. It was determined that all three teams had violated eligibility rules and gained an unfair advantage (both Romania and Spain defeated Russia by slim margins) and were sanctioned, and thus, Russia advanced as the automatic qualifier, with Germany headed to the repechage against Portugal.

European Nations Cup

As the Soviet Union, the side secured four straight silvers (all behind France and ahead of Italy and Romania) during the 1980s, and a further three bronzes.

Russia first played the FIRA Trophy in the 1992–94 season. Since 2000, Russia's primary international competition is the European Nations Cup, administered by Rugby Europe and played, by-and-large, during the Six Nations international release window in February and March. Russia won the inaugural Division 2 competition, winning promotion to the top tier in 2000, where they have remained ever since.

Since realignment, Russia has secured two runners-up spots and three third-place finishes, in doing so claiming the third-highest number of wins, the third-highest win percentage, and the third-lowest number of losses, in each case placing below Georgia and Romania.

In the 2011-12 season, Russia finished fourth with five wins and five losses. In the 2013-14 season, the team finished third with six wins and four losses. In the 2015-16 season, the Bears again claimed six wins and four losses to finish third. In the 2017 season, Russia finished fourth with two wins and three losses.

Current players

Russia has traditionally fielded squads consisting near-entirely of players from its own professional league, but as players gain exposure, several players have represented their country while playing club rugby overseas, including Vasily Artemyev, the first Russian to play in the Aviva Premiership and locks Andrei Ostrikov, and Kirill Kulemin.

Former Melbourne Rebels lock Adam Byrnes, who qualified for Russia through maternal lineage, is the only foreign-born player to have played for the Bears in recent years.

Current squad

Russia`s squad for the 2020 Rugby Europe Championship.

Head Coach: Lyn Jones

  • Caps Updated: 28 February 2020

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Evgeny Matveev Hooker (1985-04-15) 15 April 1985 64 VVA-Podmoskovye
Shamil Magomedov Hooker (1987-04-17) 17 April 1987 3 Enisey-STM
Denis Mashkin Hooker (1997-02-19) 19 February 1997 0 Enisey-STM
Kirill Gotovtsev Prop (1987-07-17) 17 July 1987 8 Krasny Yar
Azamat Bitiev Prop (1989-12-09) 9 December 1989 24 Krasny Yar
Valery Morozov Prop (1995-09-21) 21 September 1995 23 Sale Sharks
Vladimir Podrezov Prop (1994-01-27) 27 January 1994 30 VVA-Podmoskovye
Evgeny Mishechkin Prop (1997-07-27) 27 July 1997 14 Slava Moskva
Alexey Scobyola Prop (1991-08-08) 8 August 1991 0 Slava Moskva
Evgeny Elgin Lock (1987-03-10) 10 March 1987 29 Enisey-STM
Nikita Bekov Lock (1996-03-04) 4 March 1996 1 RC Massy
Yegor Zykov Lock (1993-01-11) 11 January 1993 2 VVA-Podmoskovye
Tagir Gadzhiev Back row (1994-03-29) 29 March 1994 31 VVA-Podmoskovye
Nikita Vavilin Back row (1994-05-13) 13 May 1994 14 Slava Moskva
Victor Gresev Back row (1986-03-31) 31 March 1986 102 Locomotiv Penza
Patris Peki Back row (1995-10-19) 19 October 1995 4 VVA-Podmoskovye
Anton Sychev Back row (1994-02-05) 5 February 1994 20 Metallurg
Vitaly Zhivatov Back row (1992-02-16) 16 February 1992 15 VVA-Podmoskovye
Alexey Sherban Scrum-half (1990-11-17) 17 November 1990 48 Enisey-STM
Konstantin Uzunov Scrum-half (1994-04-19) 19 April 1994 15 Enisey-STM
Vasily Dorofeev Scrum-half (1990-08-06) 6 August 1990 25 Krasny Yar
Yuri Kushnarev Fly-half (1985-06-06) 6 June 1985 114 Krasny Yar
Ramil Gaisin Fly-half (1991-07-26) 26 July 1991 51 Enisey-STM
Alexandr Budychenko Fly-half (1997-09-09) 9 September 1997 9 Enisey-STM
Vladimir Ostroushko Centre (1986-09-30) 30 September 1986 50 RC Kuban
Dmitry Gerasimov Centre (1988-04-16) 16 April 1988 70 Enisey-STM
Kirill Golosnitsky Centre (1994-05-30) 30 May 1994 15 VVA-Podmoskovye
Stanislav Bondarev Centre (1988-09-29) 29 September 1988 1 RC Kuban
Vladislav Sozonov Wing (1993-10-09) 9 October 1993 13 VVA-Podmoskovye
Daniil Potikhanov Wing (1999-11-30) 30 November 1999 1 VVA-Podmoskovye
German Godlyuk Fullback (1992-08-11) 11 August 1992 3 VVA-Podmoskovye
Nikita Churashov Fullback (1996-02-11) 11 February 1996 2 Enisey-STM

Coaching staff

The current head coach is ex-Neath RFC flanker Lyn Jones.

Former head coach is Alexander Pervukhin, who returned to the position following a long break retains strong links to 2016 Russian Rugby Premier League Champions Enisei-STM in Krasnoyarsk.

Prior to Pervukhin, former Wales flanker Kingsley Jones was the most recent coach, with Siua Taumalolo and Darren Morris his assistants. He left in 2014 to take up a coaching role with the Newport Gwent Dragons in Wales. Raphaël Saint-André, brother of French coach Philippe Saint-André, then coached the team for the final two matches of the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay.

Coaching staff
Name With Backs Forwards Strength & Conditioning Coach Dates
Alexander Pervukhin 2006–2008
Claude Saurel 2008
Nikolay Nerush Steve Diamond Jos Baxendell Steve Diamond 2008–2010
Nikolay Nerush Kingsley Jones Henry Paul Darren Morris 2010–2011
Kingsley Jones Siua Taumalolo Darren Morris 2011–2014
Raphaël Saint-André Laurent Seigne 2014
Alexander Pervukhin Alexander Alekseenko Mark McDermott 2014–2018
Mark McDermott Alexander Alekseenko Mark McDermott 2018
Lyn Jones Alexander Voytov Shaun Connor Mark McDermott Mark Bennett 2018-

Stadiums and attendance

The national team does not have a permanent home stadium and play their matches at various locations across Russia. These include the rugby hotbed of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, where the national side played its first full test against a foundation union, versus Ireland in 2002. Other games have been played in Krasnodar, Sochi, Moscow, Monino and Penza.

After 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in Russia, the country received new large stadiums as a heritage. The Russian rugby union was given the opportunity to use these stadiums for the home games of the national team. The first big match took place in Moscow at VTB Arena as part of the warm-up to 2019 Rugby World Cup. In February 2020, Russia will host Portugal to the Kaliningrad Stadium.

The highest attended matches in Russia involving the Russian national team are:

RankAttendanceOpponentDateVenueLocation
115,000 Italy1998-04-18Central StadiumKrasnoyarsk
215,000 Ireland2002-09-21Central StadiumKrasnoyarsk
312,000 Namibia2018-11-10Kuban StadiumKrasnodar
412,000 Portugal2020-02-22Kaliningrad StadiumKaliningrad
511,500 Spain2018-02-10Kuban StadiumKrasnodar
610,000 United States2003-06-19Central StadiumKrasnoyarsk
78,237 Spain2020-02-01Fisht StadiumSochi
88,000 Georgia2008-04-12Central StadiumKrasnoyarsk
98,000 Zimbabwe2014-08-04Central StadiumKrasnoyarsk
106,500 Connacht2019-09-07VTB ArenaMoscow
116,000 Belgium2018-02-17Kuban StadiumKrasnodar
125,850 Georgia2019-03-17Kuban StadiumKrasnodar
135,100Barbarian F.C.1992-06-06RZD ArenaMoscow

Recent and upcoming fixtures

The following table shows the fixtures of the Russian national team in official test matches during the previous 12 months.

Date Opponent Opp Rank Result Venue Event
2017-11-18  Chile 24 W 42-11 Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong 2017 Cup of Nations
2017-11-14  Kenya 30 W 31-10 King's Park, Hong Kong 2017 Cup of Nations
2017-11-10  Hong Kong 22 W 16-13 King's Park, Hong Kong 2017 Cup of Nations
2017-06-18  Namibia 19 W 31-10 Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo 2017 World Rugby Nations Cup
2017-06-14  Uruguay 21 L 29-32 Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo 2017 World Rugby Nations Cup
2017-06-10  Argentina XV n/a W 39-38 Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo 2017 World Rugby Nations Cup
2017-03-19  Germany 24 W 52-25 Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi 2017 Rugby Europe Championship
2017-03-12  Georgia 12 L 14-28 Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi 2017 Rugby Europe Championship
2017-03-04  Romania 16 L 10-30 Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi 2017 Rugby Europe Championship
2017-02-18  Belgium 26 W 25-18 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels 2017 Rugby Europe Championship
2017-02-11  Spain 22 L 6-16 Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid 2017 Rugby Europe Championship

World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 9 March 2020[6]
RankChange*TeamPoints
1  South Africa094.19
2  New Zealand092.11
3  England088.41
4  Ireland084.91
5  France082.73
6  Wales082.64
7  Australia081.90
8  Scotland080.68
9  Japan079.28
10  Argentina078.31
11  Fiji076.21
12  Georgia072.88
13  Tonga071.44
14  Italy071.07
15  Samoa070.72
16  United States068.10
17  Uruguay067.41
18  Spain067.14
19  Romania065.36
20 4 Russia062.13
21 1 Portugal061.27
22 1 Hong Kong061.23
23 1 Canada061.12
24 1 Namibia061.01
25  Netherlands060.08
26  Brazil058.89
27  Belgium057.19
28   Switzerland054.11
29  Chile053.83
30  Germany053.13
*Change from the previous week
Russia's historical rankings
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 27 January 2020[6]

On introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in October 2003, Russia was ranked 23rd. Since then the team's lowest ranking was 26 (most recently in October 2005). The team's ranking peaked at 16 on several occasions (most recently in February 2010). As of November 15, 2016, Russia is ranked 21st in the world.

Overall record

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Russia national XV at test level up until 22 February 2020.[7]

Opponent Played Won Lost Drawn Win % For Aga Diff
 Argentina Jaguars50500.00%58200–142
 Argentina XV2200100.00%8778+9
 Australia10100.00%2268–46
 Belgium871087.50%275148+127
 Canada514020.00%91157–66
 Chile1100100.00%4211+31
 Croatia10100.00%1623–7
 Czech Republic862075.00%309104+205
 Denmark3300100.00%19128+163
 England Saxons10100.00%1749–32
 France XV20200.00%2187–66
French Military10100.00%1233–21
 Georgia2312114.35%260579–319
 Germany111100100.00%528140+388
 Hong Kong5500100.00%14462+82
 Ireland30300.00%15132–117
Emerging Ireland10100.00%066–66
 Italy50500.00%76283–207
 Emerging Italy20200.00%3660–24
 Italy A40400.00%66129–63
 Japan716016.7%118299–161
 Kenya1100100.00%3110+21
 Morocco321066.67%4446–2
 Namibia752071.43%183141+42
 Netherlands4400100.00%20839+169
 Norway1100100.00%660+66
 Papua New Guinea1100100.00%4919+30
 Poland4400100.00%20159+142
 Portugal20145168.42%537380+157
 Romania23616128.26%329567–238
 Samoa10100.00%934–25
 Scotland10100.00%061–61
 Scotland A10100.00%749–42
 Spain23167072.72%639518+121
 Sweden10100.00%1320–7
 Tunisia2200100.00%5741+16
 Ukraine9900100.00%439115+324
 United States80800.00%110280–170
 USA Selects1100100.00%3021+9
 Uruguay945044.44%215231–16
 Zimbabwe3300100.00%9235+57
Total222111108348.87%56525402+250

Individual records

Most caps
# Player Pos Span Mat Start Sub Won Lost Draw %
1Yuri KushnarevFly-half2005–11599165459247.82
2Victor GresevFlanker2006–10393104557144.17
3Andrey GarbuzovLock2005–10076244554145.50
4Vasily ArtemyevCentre2009–938944052143.54
5Andrei KuzinCentre1997–20117868103837350.64
6Alexander KhrokinProp1994–20117647293638248.68
7Vladislav KorshunovHooker2002–20157348253239245.20
Alexander VoytovLock2003–2014736762942241.09
9Viacheslav GrachevFlanker1993–2011727023337247.22
10Mikhail BabaevWing2006-716563337147.18
Dmitry GerasimovCentre2008-7161102942040.84

Most tries
# Player Pos Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries
1Vasily ArtemyevCentre2009–9389414529
2Andrei KuzinCentre1997–201178681013026
3Vladimir OstroushkoWing2006–5147412525
4Victor GresevFlanker2006–103931010020
5Viacheslav GrachevFlanker1993–2011727029519
6Igor GalinovskiyWing2006-504379018
7Alexander GvozdovskyWing2005-2010312837515
Denis SimplikevichWing2011-292457515
9Evgeny MatveevHooker2007-6526396513
10Anton RudoyFlanker2016-2018201916012

Most points
# Player Pos Span Mat Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop
1Yuri KushnarevFly-half2005–115784111501412
2Konstantin RachkovFly-half1997–2011443161051415
3Ramil GaisinFly-half2012–52168732230
Vladimir SimonovCentre2001-2004221681125183
5Vasily ArtemyevCentre2009–9314529000
6Andrei KuzinCentre1997–20117813026000
7Vladimir OstroushkoWing2006–5112525000
8Alexander YanyushkinScrum-half2002–201570116109160
9Viktor MotorinScrum-half1999–200941112224180
10Victor GresevFlanker2006–10310020000

Other international teams

Sevens
Main article: Russia national rugby sevens team

Russia also has a rugby sevens team, which competes in several rounds each year on the World Rugby Sevens Series and in the FIRA-AER Grand Prix Sevens circuit, with Moscow hosting the second leg. The sevens team has recorded wins against Tier 1 nations and recorded their first top eight finish at the 2011 Hong Kong Sevens, and a Bowl win in Glasgow in 2012. The team is two-time European Champion (2007 and 2009), making it the second most successful team at that tournament.

Women
Main article: Russia women's national rugby union team

Russia's women field national rugby union teams in both fifteens, where it appeared at the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1994 and 1998 as Russia and in 1991 as the USSR, and in sevens, which took part in the first Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2009 and which contests the IRB Women's Sevens World Series.

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See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2017-07-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. RUR Team Media Guide RWC11
  3. Rugby Union of Russia Official Team Media Guide for RWC11
  4. http://www.ferugby.com/noticias.htm
  5. "Official RWC 2011 Site". RugbyWorldCup.com. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  6. "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  7. Russia rugby statistics
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