Current Players
Russia has fielded a number of new players since RWC 2011 as it seeks to bed in younger players ahead of qualifying for RWC 2015 and in response to injuries to a large number of core players. Therefore a number of prominent players for the national team did not feature in the team's most recent squad - that for the 2013 European Nations Cup.
Russia has traditionally fielded squads consisting near-entirely of players from its own professional league, but as players gain exposure, several foreign-based have represented their country, including Northampton Saints winger Vasily Artemyev, the first Russian to play in the Aviva Premiership, Sale Sharks lock Andrey Ostrikov, and London Welsh lock Kirill Kulemin.
Former Melbourne Rebels lock Adam Byrnes, who qualifies for Russia through maternal lineage, is the only foreign-born player to have played for the Bears in recent years.
Notable current absentees to injury include RWC11 captain Vladislav Korshunov and other World Cup squad members Byrnes, Ostrikov, Russia's all-time sevens top scorer Vladimir Ostroushko and 2012 Russian Superleague top scorer Denis Simplikevich.
Read more about this topic: Russia National Rugby Union Team
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