Russia National Rugby Union Team
The Russian National Rugby Union Team, is the national team representing Russia at 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.
Russia is seen as a Tier 2 union by the International Rugby Board (IRB). The team's regular international competition is in the European Nations Cup (ENC) Division 1A – often referred to as the Six Nations B. In addition, the team participates in IRB-run summer tournaments - the Nations Cup in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012, the Churchill Cup in 2010 and 2011, and the IRB's International Rugby Series in Colwyn Bay in 2012.
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.
Russia also has a Rugby Sevens team, which competes in several rounds each year on the IRB World Sevens Series (WSS) and in the FIRA-AER Grand Prix Sevens (GPS) circuit, with Moscow hosting the second leg. The Sevens team has recorded wins against Tier 1 nations and recorded their first top 8 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.
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.
Read more about Russia National Rugby Union Team: History, European Competition, Current Players, Coaching Staff, Home Grounds, IRB World Rankings, Overall Record, See Also
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