Rugby union in Russia
| Rugby union in Russia | |
|---|---|
 Georgia playing Russia | |
| Country | Russia |
| Governing body | Rugby Union of Russia |
| National team(s) | Russia |
| First played | 1884, Moscow |
| Registered players | 19,700 |
| Clubs | 105 |
Rugby union in Russia is a growing sport. Russia is ranked 16th worldwide by the International Rugby Board (IRB) [1], having over one hundred clubs and close to 20,000 players nationally.[2] Russia has a professional domestic competition.
Governing body
Rugby Union of Russia is the governing body for rugby union in Russia. It was founded in 1936 originally as the Rugby Union of the Soviet Union, and a specifically Russian body was set up in 1966. The Rugby Union of Russia became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1990.[3]
History
Rugby union was played in Imperial Russia as early as in 1908, however the first official match took place in Moscow in 1923. In 1934 the Moscow Championship was started, and in 1936 the first Soviet Championship took place.
Because of the Russian Revolution, some Soviet/Russian players emigrated and/or ended up playing for foreign sides, a notable example being Prince Alexander Obolensky (Александр Сергеевич Оболенский) who played for Oxford and England in the 1930s - he was the scorer of 2 tries on his England debut in their win over New Zealand in January 1936. His noble birth precluded him from playing in his home country and his family had fled the country when he was only a year old.
The game was more or less banned for a number of years in the Soviet Union because of an incident in a final in Moscow, when supporters of Llanelli and a Bucharest team were involved in a brawl.[3]
In 1949, rugby union was forbidden in the USSR during the "fight against the cosmopolitanism". The competitions were resumed in 1957, and the Soviet Championship in 1966. In 1975 the Soviet national team played their first match.[4]
Although there was the Soviet Cup and the Soviet Championship, rugby never became a major sport in the USSR. Union was the bigger of the two codes though - rugby league only really took off in the former Soviet Union after the collapse of Communism.
When the Soviet Union broke up, there were two main consequences - firstly the loss of a much larger pool of players and fans, and secondly, the defection of many players to rugby league, which had previously been frowned on by the Soviet authorities. The two main areas for Russian rugby were to be Moscow and Siberia, and to a lesser extent, Leningrad/St Petersburg.[3]
The most notable Russian player perhaps is Dimitri Mironov who played for the Barbarians several times during the 1980s.[3]
Russian rugby terminology
| 1 - форвард первой линии открытой стороны (Left Prop or Loosehead Prop) | 2 - отыгрывающий (хукер) (Hooker) | 3 - форвард первой линии закрытой стороны (Right Prop or Tighthead Prop) | ||||
| 4 - форвард второй линии (2nd Row or Lock) | 5 - Форвард второй линии (2nd Row or Lock) | |||||
| 6 - Левый крыльевой (Blindside Flanker) | 8 - Стягивающий (восьмерка)(Number 8) | 7 - Правый крыльевой (Openside Flanker) | ||||
| 9 - Полузащитник схватки (девятка)(Halfback or Scrum-half) | ||||||
| 10 - Блуждающий полузащитник (десятка)(First Five-eight or Fly-half) | ||||||
| 12 - Центральный трёхчетвертной (Second Five-eight or Inside Center) | ||||||
| 13 - Центральный трёхчетвертной (Center or Outside Center) | ||||||
| 11 - Левый крайний трёхчетвертной (Left Wing) | 14 - Правый крайний трёхчетвертной (четырнадцатый)(Right Wing) | |||||
| 15 - Защитник (замок)(Fullback) |
Climate
In 1978, Russia set the record for one of the coldest matches ever to be played. Krasnoyarsk played Polyechika Alma at -23' C. Because Krasnoyarsk had travelled over 2,000 km to be there, the game was not called off. Instead, players resorted to wearing balaclavas, gloves, and several pairs of tracksuits to combat the cold.[5] Nonetheless, the extreme climate of Russia remains a problem, with winter sometimes being a split season, or the game of snow rugby being played.
Popularity
Although association football is the most popular spectator sport in Russia, rugby has been growing in terms of player base, spectator interest and media coverage in recent years. Rugby's rise into mainstream media happened a few years ago when the Heineken Cup, a club/province tournament in Europe, was given television coverage on the 7TV sports channel. 7TV also broadcasted the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Subsequently, Russia's domestic championship, the Professional Rugby League has earned weekly coverage on the RTR-Sport channel (a number of countries also receive this channel, such as Ukraine), though the games are not shown live. In addition to television coverage, rugby now features in main stream news publications. In early 2006, RTR-Sport purchased the rights to cover the 2007 Rugby World Cup. In 2007 Moscow made an unsuccessful bid to host the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. It was announced in February of 2009 that the Rugby Union of Russia would again bid to host the Rugby World Cup Sevens, in 2013. Russia is now virtually certain to host that event, as two other bidders (Brazil and Germany) withdrew, leaving Russia the only country with an active bid. Russia is also set to host the 2010 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, the IRB's second-tier international competition for under-20 men's teams.
Competitions
The main club competition in Russia is the Professional Rugby League, a fully-professional competition. Crowds vary for these club matches, although 10,000 are usually present for the derby fixtures. The competing clubs are VVA-Podmoskovye from Моnino in Moscow Oblast and Slava from Moscow, Enisei-STM and Krasny Yar both from Krasnoyarsk, RC Penza, RC Novokuznetsk, and Universitet from Chita Oblast. There also Top League and First League below the Professional Rugby League.
The Six Nations B, also known as the European Nations Cup (ENC) is similar to the Six Nations Championship. Russia finished third in 2001 and 2001-2002 competitions and second in the 2007-2008 competition. The Nations Cup was introduced by the IRB in 2006, in which Russia and Portugal along with Argentina A and Italy A competed in Portugal.
The Super Cup was an annual international rugby union competition contested by national teams from Canada, Japan, Romania and the United States. It was previously known as the Super Powers Cup.
The Super Powers Cup was first launched in 2003. It was planned that China, Japan, Russia and the United States would play each other once. However, because of the SARS outbreak the Chinese team were forced to withdraw. Russia won the inaugural competition, defeating the USA 30-21 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. [6] For the 2004 competition Canada replaced China.
National champions
| Year | Team | Year | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Krasny Yar | 2002 | Enisei-STM |
| 1993 | VVA-Podmoskovye | 2003 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| 1994 | Krasny Yar | 2004 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| 1995 | Krasny Yar | 2005 | Enisei-STM |
| 1996 | Krasny Yar | 2006 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| 1997 | Krasny Yar | 2007 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| 1998 | Krasny Yar | 2008 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| 1999 | Enisei-STM | 2009 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| 2000 | Krasny Yar | 2010 | |
| 2001 | Krasny Yar | 2011 |
National team
Russia previously played as part of the USSR, and in the early 1990s, as a combined CIS team. Since 1992 however, they have been playing as Russia. The team qualified for its first Rugby World Cup by tying Romania 21-21.
Russia competes regularly in the European Nations Cup, and more recently, in the Nations Cup.
See also
- Russia national rugby union team
- USSR national rugby union team
- Rugby Union of Russia
- Professional Rugby League
- Rugby league in Russia
- Sport in Russia
- Marcel Burgun, France, born in St Petersburg.
External links
- Rugby.ru
- Russia on IRB.com
- Rugby media coverage grows in Russia, eyes set on RWC 2007
- rprl.ru
- No Hanging Up the Boots
- "Islam and Rugby" on the Rugby Readers review (Russia has a considerable Muslim minority)
- Template:Fr Archives du Rugby: Russie
References
- Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. ISBN 0-7126-0911-3
- Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007, ISBN 9781845962555)
- ^ Official IRB Rankings
- ^ Official Russia Playing Numbers
- ^ a b c d Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1 86200 013 3) p74
- ^ Rugby union in Russia and USSR Template:Ru icon
- ^ Cain, Nick & Growden, Greg "Chapter 21: Ten Peculiar Facts about Rugby" in Rugby Union for Dummies (2nd Edition), p295 (pub: John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, England) ISBN-13 978-0-470-03537-5
- ^ Scrum.com : Russia take Super Powers Cup
