Rugby union in Russia

Rugby union in Russia is a growing sport. Russia is ranked 18th worldwide by the International Rugby Board (IRB) [ [http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html Official IRB Rankings] ] , having a little over 13,000 players nationally. [ [http://www.irb.com/unions/union=11000087/index.html Official Russia Playing Numbers] ] Russia has a professional domestic competition.

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.

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. [ [http://www.russianrugby.ru/history.php?Id=RUS Rugby union in Russia and USSR] ru icon]

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.

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.

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. The Rugby Union of Russia became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1990.

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.

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, Portugal along with Argentina A and Italy A competed in Portugal.

National champions

National team

:"See main": Russia national rugby union teamRussia previously played as the Soviet Union, and in the early 1990s, as a combined CIS team. Since 1992 however, they have been playing as Russia. The team has yet to qualify for a Rugby World Cup.

Russia competes regularly in the European Nations Cup, and more recently, in the Nations Cup.

ee 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

External links

wikinewshas|News related to this article
*
* [http://www.rugby.ru/ Rugby.ru]
* [http://www.irb.com/en/Home/MemberUnionHomePage?UnionID=87 Russia] on IRB.com
* [http://www.heavensgame.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=556&Itemid=84 Rugby media coverage grows in Russia, eyes set on RWC 2007]
* [http://www.rprl.ru/ rprl.ru]

References