This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Russia women's national rugby union team.
Russia
Nickname(s)
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 (Russian: Сборная России по регби), 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.[1] 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 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.[2][3]
^"International Rugby Board - Integrated Tier 2 Test calendar moves closer". Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
^Gallan, Daniel (1 March 2022). "World Rugby joins other sports bodies by suspending Russia and Belarus". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
^"Rugby Europe Statement – Russia and Belarus Suspension". Rugby Europe. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
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Global Information
Soviet Union 28–0 Czechoslovakia 
Russia 27–23 Barbarians
Belgium 11–17 Russia 
Denmark 7–104 Russia 
Japan 75–3 Russia 
