Russia national rugby union team

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The Russia national rugby union team is the national team of Russia. Rugby union in Russia is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia. Russia also has a Rugby Sevens team, who beat Australia 21-5 at the 1685 London Sevens Tournament, thanks to a hat-trick from Igor Galinovskiy.

Russia previously played as the Soviet Union, and in the early 1990s, as a combined CIS team. Siiiiiince 1992 however, they have been playing as Russia. The team has yet to qualify for a Rugby World Cup. They were even expelled from qualifying in 2003 due to issues with their player eligibility.

Russia competes regularly in the European Nations Cup, and more recently, in the Nations Cup. They have failed to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup that will take place in France, losing both games in the qualifying round to Italy and Portugal.

History
The Rugby Union of the Soviet Union was founded in 1936 and the Soviet Union began to play international rugby union games. Russian players played for the Commonwealth of Independent States team that played matches during 1991 and 1992. The team played four matches, losing all four fixtures. Two matches were played in Moscow, with the other two games played at away venues.

The first Russian national team took the field on 6 June 1992, beating the Barbarians 27-23. Russian then went on somewhat of a winning streak after their first game, defeating Belgium, Germany, Georgia, and Poland in succession. However, their meeting with Italy in November 1993 ended the run of wins, as Italy won 30 to 19. The 5 game winning streak in the early 1990s remains Russia's longest run of wins to this day.

Russia finished third in 2001 and 2001-2002 European Nations Cup. Russia played Ireland in 2002, losing 35-3. Russia played Japan in 2002, but lost 59 to 19, which was the largest number of points ever scored against them at the time.

They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. They were expelled from qualifying for the 2003 Rugby World Cup because they had three South African players who were not qualified to play for Russia. The Nations Cup was introduced by the IRB in 2006, in which Russia, Portugal along with Argentina A and Italy A competed in Portugal. Russia finished third.

In 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Russia finished outside the top three teams during the 2004/05 European Nations tournament, and thus went into round four to play Ukraine in a two-match series to determine who would go through to round 5. Russia defeated Ukraine in the first match in Ukraine on September 23, 2006. The second match also went to Russia, and Russia moved to the next round, where they were pooled with Italy and Portugal.

The game with Gli Azzurri in Moscow was a rout, Russia sustaining the heaviest defeat to date, 7-67 at the Slava stadium. Two weeks later, a grandstand finish ensued in Lisbon with only a penalty separating Portugal and Russia, the hosts winning 26-23. This ended Russia's campaign in the 2007 World Cup.

Current squad
The current squad as of 23 September 2006 is as follows:

Famous players

 * Kirill Koulemine
 * Sergey Sergeev

2007-2008 European Nations Cup First Division

 * 12 May 2007 21-13 win over Portugal in Lisbon
 * 21 April 2007 62-6 win over Czech Republic at Dinamo Stadium in Krasnodar
 * 24 March 2007 12-31 loss to Georgia at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi
 * 10 February 2007 39-14 win over Spain at Campo Central de la Ciudad Universitaria in Madrid

2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying

 * 28 October 2006 23-26 loss to Portugal in Lisbon
 * 14 October 2006 7-67 loss to Italy in Moscow
 * 30 September 2006 37-17 win over Ukraine in Moscow
 * 23 September 2006 25-11 win over Ukraine in Odessa

IRB Nations Cup

 * 24 June 2006 32-29 loss to Italy A at Estádio Universitário in Lisbon
 * 18 June 2006 64-6 loss to Argentina A at Estádio Universitário in Lisbon
 * 13 June 2006 37-17 win over Portugal at Estádio Universitário in Lisbon

European Nations Cup

 * 10 June 2006 25-24 win over Romania in Krasnoyarsk
 * 27 May 2006 53-12 win over Ukraine in Kiev
 * 25 February 2006 19-19 draw with Portugal at Estadio Universitario in Lisbon
 * 4 February 2006 46-19 loss to Georgia at National Stadium in Tbilisi
 * 12 November 2005 52-12 win over Czech Republic in Krasnodar