Russia national rugby union team
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| Nickname(s) | Медведи (Medvedi, "bears") |
|---|---|
| Emblem | Russian bear |
| Union | Rugby Union of Russia |
| Head coach | Alexander Pervukhin |
| Captain | Vasily Artemyev |
| Most caps | Victor Gresev (87) |
| Top scorer | Yury Kushnarev (579) |
| Top try scorer | Vyacheslav Grachev (31) |
| Home stadium | Sochi Central Stadium |
| World Rugby ranking | |
| Current | 19 (as of 21 November 2016) |
| Highest | 16 (2012) |
| Lowest | 26 (2005) |
| First international | |
|
Russia 27-23 Barbarian Football Club (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 | |
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2011) |
| Best result | Pool stage, 2011 |
| Website | www.rugby.ru |
The Russia national rugby union team is the national team representing Russia in the sport of rugby union.
Rugby union in Russia is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is the official successor union of the Soviet Union 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 Barbarian Football Club in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first Test against a ranking nation was against Belgium later the same year.
Russia is seen as a Tier 2 union by World Rugby. The team's regular international competition is in the European Nations Cup (ENC) Division 1A - to be re-branded the Rugby Europe Championship from 2017 – 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, most recently the Hong Kong Cup of Nations contested by top regional sides who failed to qualify for the previous Rugby World Cup.
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 1999 and 1995 Rugby World Cups.
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.
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