Russia national rugby league team

Russia

Team information
Nickname	The Bears
Governing body	Russian Rugby League
Region	Europe
Head coach	Denis Korolev
Captain	Sergey Konstantinov
Home stadium	Naro-Fominsk
IRL ranking	20th
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
France 26–6 USSR (Villeurbanne, France; September 1991)
Biggest win
Lebanon 0–80 Russia  (Moscow, Russia; 28 September 2008)
Biggest defeat
Australia 110–4 Russia  (Hull, England; 4 November 2000)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (first time in 2000)
Best result	Group Stages, 2000

The Russia national rugby league team (also known as The Bears) represent Russia in international rugby league tournaments and other rugby league fixtures. The Bears, played their first fixtures against two British club sides: York Wasps and Fulham RLFC. In 2013, Russia became a full member of the Rugby League International Federation.

History[]

1990s[]

The Russia Bears were formed in 1991 for a tour of two English teams, the York Wasps and Fulham RLFC.

The Bears played their first overseas match in 1991 against the French national team at the Stade Georges Lyvet, Villeurbanne on Sunday, 27 October 1991. The Bears were beaten 26-6 by France. Later that year, the Bears toured South Africa to play a three-match series against South Africa.

France continued to assist the game in the former Soviet Union by touring in 1993, winning 30-14 in Moscow against the Bears and 34-14 against Moldova.

1994 was the most important year to date for the Bears, marking their first international victory against the USA Tomahawks, in San Francisco. In 1995, Russia competed in the Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament but only won one game during the tournament, defeating the Americans 28-26.

Overseas teams would not return to Russia until 1998, when a youth tournament was held in Moscow. The Bears would have to wait until 2000 to play another international, when they played France in the lead-up to the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

2000s[]

The 2000 RLWC provided the Bears with the opportunity to compete with the international heavyweights of rugby league: England and Australia. Also in their group was Fiji, who the Bears played first up in Barrow. Led by Sydney Roosters prop Ian Rubin, who was born in Odessa, Ukraine, the Bears were involved in a tight struggle and it was Fijian captain, winger Lote Tuquri, who proved to be the difference between the two sides, with Fiji winning 38-12. The next two games were against opponents who proved to be beyond the Russians, with two big defeats at the hands of the English national team and a record 110-4 defeat by the Australians.

In 2002, Russia hosted Moscow's first rugby league international. The match was shown in full on national television, and was the first rugby league international to be played on artificial turf. Their opponents, the USA Tomahawks, were outclassed by the Bears to the tune of 54-10, in front of a crowd bordering 30,000.

The Russian side went on a four-match tour of New Zealand's south island in 2004.^[1]

In 2006, Russia were involved in Europe Round One, defeating Netherlands national rugby league team and Serbia national rugby league team to finish second and keep their World Cup dream alive. They then went through to Europe Round Two in Europe Pool Two with Ireland and Lebanon. Russia lost all 4 games against them and did not qualify on those grounds. Ireland qualified as group winners to go through to the 2008 World Cup, with the runner up Lebanon entering the Repecharge round.

In 2008, the Bears competed in the first-ever RLEF Euro Med Challenge, competing against Serbia and Lebanon. They won both games and emerged as victors of the competition.

2010s[]

In 2010, after a year out of competition, the Bears competed in the Rugby League European Shield, topping the table after wins against Ukraine and Latvia.

In 2011 Russia were involved in the European qualifying group that featured Russia themselves, Italy, Serbia, and Lebanon. They lost both of their games against Italy and Lebanon ultimately ending their dreams for a second world cup tournament. On the flip side, Russia beat Serbia to finish third in the group, resulting in the Bears avoiding a winless qualifying campaign.

In 2012-2013, the Bears competed in the Rugby League European Shield winning five games out of six to take the shield.

Russia participated in the qualification for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The first stage of qualifying involved having to finish in the top 3 in their 2014–15 European Shield competition. Russia qualified for the 'final qualification tournament' after finishing the European Shield in second position. In the final round of qualification, Russia took on Spain at Fili Stadium in Moscow, and Ireland in Bray, in a bid to qualify for their second World Cup appearance.

IRL World Rankings v t
Official Men's Rankings as of December 2021
Rank	Change*	Team	Pts%
1		New Zealand	100.00%
2	1	England	79%
3	1	Tonga	69%
4	2	Australia	60%
5	1	Papua New Guinea	34%
6	1	Fiji	30%
7	1	France	21%
8	1	Samoa	19%
9	6	Serbia	18%
10	1	Greece	15%
11	2	Scotland	13%
12		Ireland	12%
13	3	Lebanon	10%
14	11	Netherlands	10%
15	1	Malta	9.00%
16	3	Italy	8.00%
17	5	Czech Republic	8.00%
18	2	Jamaica	7.00%
19	5	Turkey	7.00%
20	3	Norway	6.04%
21	2	Poland	6.03%
22	1	Cook Islands	6.02%
23	9	Wales	6.00%
24	6	United States	5.00%
25	14	Ukraine	4.29%
26		Philippines	4%
27	1	Nigeria	3.81%
28	2	Spain	3.61%
29	2	Germany	3.52%
30	9	Hungary	2.86%
31	2	Ghana	2.85%
32	2	Sweden	2.80%
33	1	Morocco	2.70%
34	4	Cameroon	1.79%
35	2	Russia	1.72%
36	9	Canada	1.66%
37	8	Solomon Islands	1.61%
38	2	South Africa	1.31%
39	7	Bulgaria	1.21%
40	5	Vanuatu	1.06%
41	1	Belgium	1.04
42	1	Brazil	1.03%
43	11	Chile	1.02%
44		Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.00%
45	5	Colombia	0.50%
46	3	Denmark	0.10%
47	2	Latvia	0.05%
*Change from November 2019

Players[]

Current squad[]

Squad selected for the 2021 World Cup qualifying fixtures;^[2]

• Nikolai Zagoskin
• Iustin Petrushka
• Kirill Bozhko
• Sergei Muntian
• Kirill Kosharin
• Petr Botnarash
• Ivan Troitskii
• Igor Abramov
• Vladislav Lesnikov
• Denis Tiulenev
• Dmitrii Leskov
• Aleksandr Lysokon
• Alexandr Naumov
• Dmitry Bratko
• Viacheslav Eremin
• Viktor Ariutkin
• Andrey Kuznetsov
• Ilia Danilov
• Pavel Mrachkovskii
• Denis Chuprin
• Igor Chupin
• Boris Voloskov
• Sergey Konstantinov
• Sergei Zhigan
• Anton Kuklin
• Evgenii Orlov
• Andrei Lavrushin
• Andrei Perin
• Nikita Kuznetsov
• Dmitrii Tarasenkov
• Aleskei Leonov
• Egor Shustov
• Ivan Kazantsev
• Vsevolod Gusev

Tournament history[]

Russia has participated in:

• Emerging Nations Tournament (1995)
• World Cup (2000)
• World Sevens (1992 as the "Red Arrows", 1994-2003)
• Victory Cup (2003, 2004)

Record[]

Below is table of the official representative rugby league matches played by Russia at test level up until 6 October 2021:

Team	First Played	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	Last Meeting
Australia	2000	1	0	0	1	2000
Cook Islands	1995	1	0	0	1	1995
England	2000	3	0	0	3	2004
France	1991	8	0	0	8	2005
Fiji	2000	1	0	0	1	2000
Germany	2012	2	2	0	0	2013
Georgia	2008	2	2	0	0	2008
Ireland	2004	4	1	0	3	2016
Italy	2011	6	2	0	4	2016
Latvia	2010	1	1	0	0	2010
Lebanon	2006	3	1	0	2	2008
Netherlands	2006	1	1	0	0	2006
Scotland	1995	1	0	0	1	1992
Serbia	2006	8	6	0	2	2021
South Africa	1992	2	2	0	0	1992
Spain	2016	2	2	0	0	2018
Ukraine	2010	5	4	0	1	2021
United States	1994	5	5	0	0	2004
Wales	2003	1	0	0	1	2003
Total	1992	41	26	0	14

Results and fixtures[]

See also[]

• Rugby league in Russia
• Victory Cup
• European Nations Cup
• Emerging Nations Tournament
• World Cup

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Russia national rugby league team on Facebook
• https://www.rlef.eu.com/fixtures?page=1