Russia national rugby union team

Russia

Nicknames	медведи (Medvedi, The Bears)
Emblem	Russian Bear
Union	Rugby Union of Russia
Head coach	Aleksandr Pervukhin
Captain	Victor Gresev
Most caps	Yuri Kushnarev (120)
Top scorer	Yuri Kushnarev (797)
Top try scorer	Vasily Artemyev (29)
Home stadium	Various
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	25 (as of 3 July 2022)
Highest	16 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Lowest	26 (2005)
First international
Soviet Union 28–0 Czechoslovakia  (Soviet Union; 31 August 1975) as Russian Federation Unofficial  Russia 27–23 Barbarians (Moscow, Russia; 6 June 1992) Official  Belgium 11–17 Russia  (Brussels, Belgium; 11 October 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	2 (First in 2011)
Best result	Pool stage (2011, 2019)
Website	rugby.ru

The Russia national rugby union team,^[1] nicknamed Medvedi (The Bears), represented Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

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 Russia's 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.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby and Rugby Europe suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby and Rugby Europe.^[3][4]

The Rugby Union of the Soviet Union was founded in 1936, although the national side did not play its first official international until 1974.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[5] Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian players played for the interim Commonwealth of Independent States team, which played four matches during 1991 and 1992.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 and have stayed there ever since. The Russian side has yet to win the title.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} The RUR attempted to gain greater participation in the autumn test window, and was being integrated into World Rugby's global test match schedule.^[2]

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby and Rugby Europe suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby and Rugby Europe.^[3][4]

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Declined invitation								-
1991	did not enter								did not enter
1995	did not qualify								4	3	0	1	125	49
1999									4	1	0	3	85	92
2003	Banned								6	5	0	1	176	114
2007	did not qualify								14	6	1	7	382	323
2011	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	57	196		10	7	1	2	291	175
2015	did not qualify								12	7	0	5	269	300
2019	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	19	160		10	4	0	6	249	201
2023	Disqualified								Disqualified
2027
2031	TBD							TBD
Total	2/11	8	0	0	8	76	356	50	29	2	19	1328	1053

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.^[6] The Soviet Rugby Union was not an IRB member in time for 1991 Rugby World Cup qualifying.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[7]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[8]

	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

Russia 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.^{[citation needed]}

Russia 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) and were sanctioned, and thus, Russia advanced as the automatic qualifier, with Germany headed to the repechage against Portugal.^{[citation needed]}

As the Soviet Union, the side secured four straight silvers (all behind France and ahead of Italy and Romania) during the 1980s, and three bronzes.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} Since realignment, Russia has secured two runners-up spots and three third-place finishes.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

On the 23rd of January 2022, the following 26 players were called up for the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship.^[9]

On the 24th of January, Vasily Artemyev was called up to the squad.^[10] On the 26th and 27 January, Vladimir Podrezov and Alexei Golov as well as Victor Kononov and Alexander Gudok were called up to the squad.^[11]

On 30 January, Victor Arhip was called up to the squad.^[12] On the 1st of February, Ramil Gaisin was called up to the squad.^[13]

On 7 February, Evgeny Mishechkin, Alexei Skobiola, Gleb Farkov, Kirill Golosnitsky, Vladislav Sozonov and Maxim Shevtsov were called up to the squad while Kirill Gotovtsev returned to his club.^[14]

Head Coach: Aleksandr Pervukhin

• Caps updated: 8 February 2022

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

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Shamil Davudov	Hooker	(1995-04-25) 25 April 1995 (age 29)	1	Kazan
Shamil Magomedov	Hooker	(1987-04-17) 17 April 1987 (age 37)	9	Enisey-STM
Dmitry Parkhomenko	Hooker	(1995-11-02) 2 November 1995 (age 29)	4	VVA Podmoskovye
Azamat Bitiev	Prop	(1989-12-09) 9 December 1989 (age 34)	25	Enisey-STM
Nikoloz Kazalikashvili	Prop	(1992-08-06) 6 August 1992 (age 32)	1	Kazan
Tamerlan Khubaev	Prop	(1998-04-25) 25 April 1998 (age 26)	0	Dinamo Moscow
Evgeny Mishechkin	Prop	(1997-06-27) 27 June 1997 (age 27)	22	Slava Moscow
Nikoloz Narmania	Prop	(2000-09-13) 13 September 2000 (age 24)	0	Carcassonne
Vladimir Podrezov	Prop	(1994-01-27) 27 January 1994 (age 30)	40	VVA Podmoskovye
Stepan Seryakov	Prop	(1997-09-26) 26 September 1997 (age 27)	1	Enisey-STM
Alexei Skobiola	Prop	(1991-08-08) 8 August 1991 (age 33)	2	Slava Moscow
Nikita Bekov	Lock	(1996-03-04) 4 March 1996 (age 28)	3	Blagnac
Maxim Gargalîc	Lock	(1989-03-07) 7 March 1989 (age 35)	1	Enisey-STM
Anton Makarenko	Lock	(1991-12-07) 7 December 1991 (age 32)	1	Enisey-STM
German Silenko	Lock	(1995-08-09) 9 August 1995 (age 29)	7	Lokomotiv Penza
Victor Arhip	Back row	(1990-02-24) 24 February 1990 (age 34)	1	Krasny Yar
Artémy Gallo	Back row	(2000-10-07) 7 October 2000 (age 24)	2	Suresnes
Vladimir Geraskin	Back row	(2000-05-21) 21 May 2000 (age 24)	1	Lokomotiv Penza
Victor Gresev (c)	Back row	(1986-03-31) 31 March 1986 (age 38)	106	Lokomotiv Penza
Nikita Vavilin	Back row	(1994-05-13) 13 May 1994 (age 30)	24	Slava Moscow
Vitaly Zhivatov	Back row	(1992-02-16) 16 February 1992 (age 32)	19	VVA Podmoskovye
Stepan Khokhlov	Scrum-half	(1998-05-09) 9 May 1998 (age 26)	6	Slava Moscow
Efim Ryabishchuk	Scrum-half	(1999-03-16) 16 March 1999 (age 25)	1	Enisey-STM
Alexey Shcherban	Scrum-half	(1990-11-17) 17 November 1990 (age 34)	49	Enisey-STM
Gleb Farkov	Fly-half	(1997-05-14) 14 May 1997 (age 27)	1	Dinamo Moscow
Ramil Gaisin	Fly-half	(1991-07-26) 26 July 1991 (age 33)	60	Enisey-STM
Alexei Golov	Fly-half	(1992-01-24) 24 January 1992 (age 32)	3	Kazan
Daniil Semenov	Fly-half	(2000-06-27) 27 June 2000 (age 24)	1	CSKA Moscow
German Davydov	Centre	(1994-03-10) 10 March 1994 (age 30)	31	VVA Podmoskovye
Dmitry Gerasimov	Centre	(1988-04-16) 16 April 1988 (age 36)	72	Enisey-STM
Kirill Golosnitsky	Centre	(1994-05-30) 30 May 1994 (age 30)	23	VVA Podmoskovye
Victor Kononov	Centre	(1996-05-26) 26 May 1996 (age 28)	6	Enisey-STM
Vladislav Sozonov	Centre	(1993-10-09) 9 October 1993 (age 31)	13	Lokomotiv Penza
Alexander Gudok	Wing	(1991-06-03) 3 June 1991 (age 33)	0	Lokomotiv Penza
Andrei Karzanov	Wing	(1990-11-25) 25 November 1990 (age 33)	8	Lokomotiv Penza
Alexey Mikhaltsov	Wing	(1991-07-24) 24 July 1991 (age 33)	11	Enisey-STM
Daniil Potikhanov	Wing	(1999-11-30) 30 November 1999 (age 24)	8	Lokomotiv Penza
Vasily Artemyev	Fullback	(1987-07-24) 24 July 1987 (age 37)	97	CSKA Moscow
Maxim Shevtsov	Fullback	(2001-03-09) 9 March 2001 (age 23)	0	Dinamo Moscow
Dmitry Sukhin	Fullback	(1995-01-15) 15 January 1995 (age 29)	1	Krasny Yar

The current coaching staff of the Russian national team:^[15]

Name	Nationality	Role
Aleksandr Pervukhin	RUS	Manager
Alexander Yanyushkin VAkil Valeev	RUS	Head coach
Yuri Kushnarev	RUS	Assistant coach
Vacant		Strength & conditioning coach
Dr. Evgeny Trofimov	RUS	Team doctor
Vacant		Physiotherapist

Since 1992

Years	Coach
–1992	Petr Etko
1992–2000	Vladimir Grachev
2001–2002	James Stoffberg
2003–2004	Aleksandr Pervukhin
2004–2005	Igor Mironov
2006	Blikkies Groenewald
2007–2008	Claude Saurel
2008-2010	Steve Diamond (Director of Rugby)
2008–2011	Nikolay Nerush
2011–2014	Kingsley Jones
2014	Raphaël Saint-André (Interim)
2015–2018	Aleksandr Pervukhin
2018	Mark McDermott (Interim)
2018–2021	Lyn Jones
2021–2022	Dick Muir
2023–	Aleksandr Pervukhin

The national team does not have a permanent home stadium and play their matches at various locations across Russia.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

Rank	Attendance	Opponent	Date	Venue	Location
1	15,000	Italy	1998-04-18	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
2	15,000	Ireland	2002-09-21	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
3	12,000	Namibia	2018-11-10	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
4	12,000	Portugal	2020-02-22	Kaliningrad Stadium	Kaliningrad
5	11,500	Spain	2018-02-10	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
6	10,000	USA Selects	2003-07-19	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
7	9,500	Georgia	2021-03-20	Kaliningrad Stadium	Kaliningrad
8	8,237	Spain	2020-02-01	Fisht Stadium	Sochi
9	8,000	Georgia	2008-04-12	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
10	8,000	Zimbabwe	2014-08-04	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
11	6,500	Connacht	2019-09-07	VTB Arena	Moscow
12	6,000	Belgium	2018-02-17	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
13	5,850	Georgia	2019-03-17	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
14	5,100	Barbarian F.C.	1992-06-06	RZD Arena	Moscow

Russia hasn't played in official tests after suspension in 2022.

The following table shows fixtures of the Russian national team in not official test matches during the previous 12 months.

Date	Opponent	Opp Rank	Result	Venue	Event
2024-10-12	Russian Barbarians	n/a	W 38-21	Solidarnost Samara Arena, Samara	Test match

Men's World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 30 as of 18 November 2024^[16]

Rank	Change[i]	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.78
2	1	Ireland	090.78
3	1	New Zealand	090.09
4		France	088.08
5		Argentina	085.40
6		Scotland	082.70
7		England	082.31
8		Australia	082.17
9		Fiji	080.07
10		Italy	078.92
11		Wales	074.01
12		Georgia	073.85
13	1	Japan	072.95
14	1	Samoa	072.68
15	1	United States	068.90
16	1	Portugal	068.82
17		Spain	067.10
18	1	Uruguay	065.94
19	1	Tonga	065.46
20		Romania	064.13
21		Chile	061.72
22		Hong Kong	059.49
23		Canada	059.18
24	3	Netherlands	058.56
25	1	Russia	058.06
26	1	Namibia	057.87
27	2	Zimbabwe	057.16
28	2	Brazil	056.53
29	1	Belgium	056.51
30		Switzerland	056.04

Russia's historical rankings

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. See or edit source data.

On introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in October 2003, Russia was ranked 23rd.^{[citation needed]} As of March 2022, Russia was ranked 25th in the world.

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Russia national XV at test level up until 6 November 2021.^[17]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina Jaguars	5	0	5	0	0.00%	58	200	–142
Argentina XV	2	2	0	0	100.00%	87	78	+9
Australia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	22	68	–46
Belgium	8	7	1	0	87.50%	275	148	+127
Canada	5	1	4	0	20.00%	91	157	–66
Chile	3	1	2	0	33.33%	98	83	+15
Croatia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	23	–7
Czech Republic	8	6	2	0	75.00%	309	104	+205
Denmark	3	3	0	0	100.00%	191	28	+163
England Saxons	1	0	1	0	0.00%	17	49	–32
France XV	2	0	2	0	0.00%	21	87	–66
French Military	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	33	–21
Georgia	25	1	23	1	4.00%	273	621	–348
Germany	11	11	0	0	100.00%	528	140	+388
Hong Kong	5	5	0	0	100.00%	144	62	+82
Ireland	3	0	3	0	0.00%	15	132	–117
Emerging Ireland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	66	–66
Italy	5	0	5	0	0.00%	76	283	–207
Emerging Italy	2	0	2	0	0.00%	36	60	–24
Italy A	4	0	4	0	0.00%	66	129	–63
Japan	7	1	6	0	16.7%	118	299	–161
Kenya	1	1	0	0	100.00%	31	10	+21
Morocco	3	2	1	0	66.67%	44	46	–2
Namibia	7	5	2	0	71.43%	183	141	+42
Netherlands	5	5	0	0	100.00%	243	47	+196
Norway	1	1	0	0	100.00%	66	0	+66
Papua New Guinea	1	1	0	0	100.00%	49	19	+30
Poland	4	4	0	0	100.00%	201	59	+142
Portugal	21	14	6	1	66.67%	563	429	+134
Romania	24	7	16	1	29.17%	347	580	–233
Samoa	1	0	1	0	0.00%	9	34	–25
Scotland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	61	–61
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	49	–42
Spain	23	16	7	0	72.72%	639	518	+121
Sweden	1	0	1	0	0.00%	13	20	–7
Tunisia	2	2	0	0	100.00%	57	41	+16
Ukraine	9	9	0	0	100.00%	439	115	+324
United States	8	0	8	0	0.00%	110	280	–170
USA Selects	1	1	0	0	100.00%	30	21	+9
Uruguay	9	4	5	0	44.44%	215	231	–16
Zimbabwe	3	3	0	0	100.00%	92	35	+57
Total	227	113	111	3	49.78%	5735	5514	+221

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.^{[citation needed]}

The men's first official match was played at the Sevens World Cup qualifier in Dubai, beating Botswana 38-3. Since then, Russia has played 799 matches, winning 375 and losing 409, with 15 ties. ^[18]

Russia Sevens team last game was at the Euro Championship in Moscow, losing the third-place game vs Germany 19-12.

Russia was crowned European Sevens Champion three times, in 2007, 2016 and 2017. In European Sevens, Russia has an impressive record of 206 victories, 85 loses and 6 ties.

Russia fields women's 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.^{[citation needed]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Russia national rugby union team.

• CIS (rugby union)
• Soviet Union national rugby union team
• Russia national rugby league team

• (in Russian) Rugby Union of Russia – Official Site