RWC Review: No. 19 Russia

[M Two One]

The 2011 Rugby World Cup has ended and unfortunately for the rugby faithful, this means that we'll have to wait four years once again, but don't be disappointed, this was a special tournament. New Zealand hosted this time around, and with that, we realize that we may not see the rugby mad country host again for a very long time.

We hope that you all savored every moment and every match, no matter what the outcomes were, the disappointments or heartache. What impressed us the most is how well second tier nations developed over the past four years, which is great news for the sport on a worldwide scale.

Development is the key to this game, as any, and this world cup has opened the door to a large number of new fans.

As we take a look back, Shaggy, psychic duck and M Two One review the twenty participants from worst to first over the next week. The rankings were put together through several opinions based on performances.

Feel free to debate and discuss. The 2011 Rugby World Cup may have ended, but rugby lives on 24/7.

Russia was the only new addition to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, marking their debut and replacing fellow European debutants from 2007, Portugal. It seemed inevitable that the Bears would qualify for the tournament as despite not having a club competing in European club competition, they do have internationally recognized players such as Vasily Artemyev, Andrey Ostrikov and Adam Byrnes.

However, three players do not make up the core of the squad and it would be ignorant to believe so. Despite spending all of his time playing in Russia, team captain and hooker Vladislav Korshunov was a name on many lists of players to watch prior to the tournament, as well as his club teammate, fly half Yury Kushnarev, dubbed as the Russian Jonny Wilkinson.

Coming into the world cup, the Bears had the mindset of coming out with at least one win. It was obvious that they were targeting their matchup with the United States in their first match since the Eagles would be coming off of a short rest following their match with Ireland. The Bears failed to make an impact and ultimately lost, but continued to improve as the world cup wore on, despite not having much rest due to a tight schedule.

Even though Russia's following three matches were all losses by considerably large margins, the team was able to impress as newcomers to the international stage. They managed to score three tries against not only Italy, but eventual third place victors Australia as well. Wing Vladimir Ostroushko scored one try in each of those matches and proved through some occasional brilliance that he can play for club in England or France. 20-year-old fullback Denis Simplikevich tied Ostroushko for most tries scored for the Bears, but being five years younger may have proved his worth even more to the rest of the world.

Konstantin Rachkov ended up scoring the most points for his nation at the tournament, despite only being used as a starter once. The veteran fly half had an excellent kicking game against Australia where, despite the few chances he had, had gone for a perfect three for three with a drop goal to boot. His counterpart, Kushnarev, did not impress at the world cup, most notably against the United States—an example of why Rachkov was utilized so often from the bench—and will go home disappointed.

While the Bears didn't pick up a win, they were able to accomplish something important—putting their players' names out there. With more Russian players at bigger clubs, the Bears will only continue to improve from here. Perhaps a future club (or two) will be introduced to the Amlin Challenge Cup to further the country's development. - M

 

[white bear]

I'm not a big connoisseur of rugby, but the Russian guys made ​​agreat impression on me.It is a pity that the match against the United States was the first, because we always played the next game better than the last.
Now we need to allow more players went to British and French clubs.I think Ostroushko and Simplikevich have a chance.

Russia in RWC

 

[M Two One]

Welcome to TRF, white bear.

I'm a big fan of both players you've mentioned, particularly Simplikevich. I think both of them could do well in a bigger league, perhaps start out at a newly promoted side to earn plenty of playing time and see where things go from there. I'd like to see both of them in France, perhaps by next season.

I think the Bears performed well at the world cup and strongly feel that they will be better overall than Romania, if they aren't already in some areas. Some of the Russian backs can be quite explosive and there are some good forwards as well.

Also, thanks for posting those videos. I've fixed the links so that they can be viewed directly in your post.