ex-Soviet Union team?

[Croket66]

On the B&I Lions model, this team would be very good with an awesome pack

An idea of ex-Soviet Union players :

Loosehead Props :
Vasil Kakovin (Georgia & Stade Toulousain)
Davit Khinchagishvili (Georgia & CA Brive)
Mikheil Nariashvili (Georgia & Montpellier HRC)
Zurab Zhvania (Georgia & Stade Français)
Karlen Asieshvili (Georgia & Stade Aurillacois)

Hookers :
Irakli Natriashvili (Georgia & CA Brive)
Jaba Bregvadze (Georgia & Stade Toulousain)
Dumitru Arhip (Moldova & Ospreys)
Vladislav Korshunov (Russia & VVA-Podmoskovye)
Valery Tsnobiladze (Russia & Enisey-STM)

Tighthead Props :
Giorgi Jgenti (Georgia & Montpellier HRC)
Davit Zirakashvili (Georgia & ASM Clermont)
Davit Kubriashvili (Georgia & RC Toulon)
Anton Peikrishvili (Georgia & Castres Olympique)
Vadim Cobilas (Moldova & Sale Sharks)

Locks :
Andrey Ostrikov (Russia & Sale Sharks)
Karolis Navickas (Lithuania & Union Bordeaux-Bègles)
Kirill Kulemin (Russia & London Welsh)
Levan Datunashvili (Georgia & Stade Aurillacois)
Giorgi Nemsadze (Georgia & Tarbes PR)
Adam Byrnes (Russia & Melbourne Rebels)
Konstantine Mikautadze (Georgia & RC Toulon)
Uldis Sautile (Latvia & Enisey-STM)

Back Row :
Mamuka Gorgodze (Georgia & Montpellier HRC)
Dimitri Basilaia (Georgia & Edinburgh Rugby)
Viktor Gresev (Russia & Krasny Yar)
Vito Kolelishvili (Georgia & ASM Clermont)
Shalva Sutiashvili (Georgia & RC Massy)
Vakhtang Maisuradze (Georgia & SC Albi)
Anton Rudoy (Kazakhstan & Enisey-STM)
Giorgi Chkhaidze (Georgia & Tarbes PR)
Vitaly Orlov (Ukraine & Enisey-STM)

Scrum Halves :
Julris Baranov (Latvia & Enisey-STM)
Alexander Yanyushkin (Russia & VVA-Podmoskovye)
Alexey Scherban (Russia & Enisey-STM)

Fly Halves :
Sergey Sugrobov (Russia & Slava-CSP)
Yuri Kushnarev (Russia & VVA-Podmoskovye)
Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia & AS St-Junien)

Centres :
Tedo Zibzibadze (Georgia & CA Périgueux)
Merab Sharikadze (Georgia & Hartpury College RFC)
Alexey Makovetsky (Russia & Krasny Yar)
Davit Kacharava (Georgia & Stade Rodez)
Tamaz Mchedlidze (Georgia & Stade Montois espoirs)
Dimitri Gerasimov (Russia & Enisey-STM)
Mikhail Babaev (Russia & VVA-Podmoskovye)

Back Three :
Vasily Artemyev (Russia & Northampton Saints)
Vladimir Ostrouchko (Russia & Kuban Krasnodar)
Denis Simplikevich (Russia & Enisey-STM)
Sandro Todua (Georgia & SC Albi)
Irakli Machkhaneli (Georgia & Armazi)
Maxim Lifontov (Kazakhstan & RC Novokuznetsk)
Igor Klyuchnikov (Russia & VVA-Podmoskovye)
Giorgi Shkhinin (Georgia & Army Tbilissi)
Lexo Gugava (Georgia & Lelo Tbilissi)

 

[Tribesmen-ce-123]

The Georgians and the Russians would have each other killed during training session's, dont think it would work out well

 

[lucky number 7]

Very interesting thread wonder how solid they would be ?

 

[McTallshort]

You could call it the Warsaw pack....

 

[Draggs]

You could call it the Warsaw pack....

Oh, now that is good.

 

[Toko_11]

The Georgians and the Russians would have each other killed during training session's, dont think it would work out well

Nah Georgian and Russian players respect each other. I don't think there would be such problems....

also to be objective I think tincu and lazar would have a place in the team. It would be really interesting though if something like that happened


PS the scrum of this team would beat the poop out of any scrum in the world period.

 

[Draggs]

Georgian pack and Russian backs, could be quite a pairing.

 

[psychic duck]

I have heard this idea on a Georgian forum before as well. An Ex-Soviet side of Georgia's pack and Russia's back three would be awesome. It would be even stronger if you made an Eastern European team and included Romania as well.

This would be my Ex-Soviet team:
1. Vasil Kakovin (Georgia)
2. Irakli Natriashvili (Georgia)
3. Giorgi Jgenti (Georgia)
4. Levan Datunashvili (Georgia)
5. Andrei Ostrikov (Russia)
6. Victor Gresev (Russia)
7. Mamuka Gorgodze (Georgia)
8. Anton Rudoy (Kazakhstan)
9. Alexander Yanyushkin (Russia)
10. Yury Kushnarev (Russia)
11. Vasily Artemyev (Russia)
12. Tedo Zibzibadze (Georgia)
13. Davit Kacharava (Georgia)
14. Vladimir Ostroushko (Russia)
15. Denis Simplikevich (Russia)

The back row is immense and would be one of the best in the world, the front row is also good, and the locks decent. So the pack is great. Only issue is the half backs, #10 especially not being so strong, and the centres also aren't world beaters and I only selected them as they are both much more solid in defence than the Russians.

These Romanians would be in if it was an Eastern European XV:
4. Valentin Ursache
9. Florin Surugiu
10. Dorin Manole
11. Catalin Fercu

Adding Romanians would help the fly half problem, as Manole is much better than Georgia's or Russia's. It would also give some phenomenal front row depth.

 

[Draggs]

What is the deal with Jgenti and the Georgian national side. I thought I heard they weren't on good terms or something.

 

[psychic duck]

What is the deal with Jgenti and the Georgian national side. I thought I heard they weren't on good terms or something.

Yep. Jgenti is one of the youngest props to be capped ever, he made his debut aged 18 in 2004, but has only had 1 cap since 2009.

He is obviously good enough to get into the side, and although it is a bit of a mystery as to why he hasn't played more for Georgia in his career, the word is that there is some dispute between Jgenti and the GRU. Rumours on Georgian message boards suggest it could be something to do with a bad attitude shown by Jgenti at not being first choice ...

There was talk of him coming back this November with Georgia having a new coach in charge who had spoken to him, but it obviously didn't come to anything in the end.

It is a big shame for Georgia and a loss to international rugby though, as he is Georgia's best scrummager. He's kind of like a Georgian Adam Jones, very similar build, and an immense immovable scrummager even if he isn't the most dynamic ball carrier. He was named in the Midi Olympique Dream Team last year, and alongside Carl Hayman and Cencus Johnston is considered one of the best tightheads in the league. Just look at what he did to Yannick Forestier (the French prop who demolished the Aussie scrum last weekend) last season. I also saw him win a few penalties up against Wales' Gethin Jenkins a few weeks ago too.

 

[Croket66]

There was talk of him coming back this November with Georgia having a new coach in charge who had spoken to him, but it obviously didn't come to anything in the end.

He is injured

 

[Draggs]

Who was he capped against? ESPN have no record of it, but they are often ********.
I hear his name often in the T14 thread, he seems to be quite a prop.

 

[Croket66]

http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/player/14611.html

 

[BRSTLDRGN]

Actually quite disappointing this thread hasnt descended into re-hashed Cold War puns

 

[Draggs]

http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/player/14611.html

Spelled differently, thanks.

 

[dragos03]

I think the federations from Georgia, Romania and Russia should really make a serious push fro the creation of such an Eastern European selection. The resulting team would have a world-class pack and competitive backs, they would surely be strong enough to compete with Tier 1 opposition.

Since the Eastern European teams get the chance to play against Tier 1 unions very rarely, the creation of these "Eastern Barbarians" could give their players this chance, even if the team would be assembled for only 1-2 games per year. The IRB would just need to assign a good foreign coach to make an impartial player selection.

Everybody would win from the creation of this team:
- it would get a lot of media interest and surely get a full stadium for the games played in any of the three main countries (there should be some kind of rotation so that games take place in Georgia, Romania and Russia)
- it would generate a lot of popularity for rugby in these countries and attract many new fans to rugby
- it would give Tier 1 unions a new opponent, besides the already traditional ones, and I think these tests would generate enough revenue to be worth it
- the resulting team would have enormous depth (especially among the forwards), so it would always be able to field a competitive squad even if some players are absent due to club problems, etc
- if all goes well after a few years, this team could even join the Six Nations tournament

 

[Superalexmarket]

I think the federations from Georgia, Romania and Russia should really make a serious push fro the creation of such an Eastern European selection. The resulting team would have a world-class pack and competitive backs, they would surely be strong enough to compete with Tier 1 opposition.

Since the Eastern European teams get the chance to play against Tier 1 unions very rarely, the creation of these "Eastern Barbarians" could give their players this chance, even if the team would be assembled for only 1-2 games per year. The IRB would just need to assign a good foreign coach to make an impartial player selection.

Everybody would win from the creation of this team:
- it would get a lot of media interest and surely get a full stadium for the games played in any of the three main countries (there should be some kind of rotation so that games take place in Georgia, Romania and Russia)
- it would generate a lot of popularity for rugby in these countries and attract many new fans to rugby
- it would give Tier 1 unions a new opponent, besides the already traditional ones, and I think these tests would generate enough revenue to be worth it
- the resulting team would have enormous depth (especially among the forwards), so it would always be able to field a competitive squad even if some players are absent due to club problems, etc
- if all goes well after a few years, this team could even join the Six Nations tournament

Great idea!! Hope some day we´ll see this come true...

 

[Croket66]

Well, this is a 30-men squad who include a larger Eastern Europe :

LOOSEHEAD PROPS : Vasil Kakovin (Stade Toulousain/Georgia) - Mikheil Nariashvili (Montpellier HRC/Georgia)
HOOKERS : Irakli Natriashvili (CA Brive/Georgia) - Dumitru Arhip (Ospreys/Moldova)
TIGHTHEAD PROPS : Davit Zirakashvili (ASM Clermont/Georgia) - Paulica Ion (London Welsh/Romania) - Vadim Cobilas (Sale Sharks/Moldova)
LOCKS : Karolis Navickas (Bordeaux-Bègles/Lithuania) - Andrey Ostrikov (Sale Sharks/Russia) - Valentin Ursache (US Oyonnax/Romania) - Olly Kohn (Harlequins/eligible for Czech Republic) or Kirill Kulemin (London Welsh/Russia)
FLANKERS : Mamuka Gorgodze (Montpellier HRC/Georgia) - Viktor Gresev (Krasny Yar/Russia) - Anton Rudoy (Enisey-STM/Kazakhstan) - Viktor Kolelishvili (ASM Clermont/Georgia)
NUMBER 8 : Dimitri Basilaia (Edinburgh Rugby/Georgia) - Miroslav Nemecek (US Oyonnax/Czech Republic)
SCRUM HALVES : Alexander Yanyushkin (VVA-Podmoskovye/Russia) - Julris Baranovs (Enisey-STM/Latvia)
FLY HALVES : Jai Ayoub (Randwick RFC/Croatian international) - Demetri Catrakellis (Southern Kings/eligible for Cyprus and Greece) or Dorin Manole (US Orthez/Romania)
CENTRES : Tedo Zibzibadze (CA Périgueux/Georgia) - Tamaz Mchedlidze (Stade Montois/Georgia) - Alexey Makovetsky (Krasny Yar/Russia)
WINGS : Vladimir Ostroushko (Kuban Krasnodar/Russia) - Denis Simplikevich (Enisey-STM/Russia) - Martin Jagr (Stade Montois/Czech Republic) - Alexander Todua (SC Albi/Georgia)
FULL BACKS : Vasily Artemyev (Northampton Saints/Russia) - Catalin Fercu (RCM Timisoara/Romania)