Russia 9:15 Georgia

Visiting Russia needing a win to secure a Grand Slam of five victories out of five in this season’s tournament, Georgia scored two tries en route to a 16:9 victory over their hosts.

The game was fairly even throughout the first half – both sides traded penalties to leave the score at 3:3 at the break. But two Georgian tries in the second half, versus two Russian penalties was the difference between the sides.

The match was the first between the two countries played on Russian soil since their brief 2008 war and, as expected, it was a tense affair. Not just on the pitch, where at one point there was a mass brawl, but off the pitch as well. According to reports in the Georgian press, some of the Georgian players had trouble getting to the match, and Russian TV took a last minute decision not to provide Georgian TV companies with a live feed of the match.

Although there were problems with the live feed, there were fortunately cameras at the match, and you can view a video of the match highlights here:

Portugal 46 − 24 Ukraine and Romania 64 − 8 Spain

No surprises in the other two matches, as Portugal and Romania both recorded fairly easy wins.

Portugal will probably be a bit disappointed that they weren’t able to put more points past Ukraine, but they scored the tries they needed to secure a bonus point.

Romania also scored a bonus point as they romped to an unexpectedly easy win over Spain, who chose to rest many of their best players ahead of the forthcoming Hong Kong Sevens tournament. A mistake in my opinion, as this leaves their team second from bottom in the table, instead of in the second position that a victory would have secured.

European Nations Cup Table

Georgia have five wins out of five, and top the table by a huge margin. They’ve clearly been the best team this season, and it’ll be a huge shock if their performances next season don’t secure them the title in this two-season tournament.

What next?

November’s Rugby World Cup awaits for Georgia, Russia and Romania. But before then, each of the teams will participate in summer warm up tournaments.

IRB Nations Cup 2011

Georgia and Romania, plus Portugal who so nearly qualified for the World Cup, will play in the IRB Nations Cup 2011, where they’ll take on the South African Kings, the Argentina Jaguars, and fellow World Cup minnows Namibia.

Matches will be played in Bucharest on the 10th, 15th and 19th June.

Churchill Cup 2011

Russia will again play in the Churchill Cup. This year’s Cup will be divided into two pools of three teams. Russia will take on Canada and Italy A in Pool B, while England Saxons, Tonga and the United States will compete in Pool A.

An odd feature of this tournament is that every team will get to play in a ‘final’ match, against their compatriots in the opposite pool. So, the winners of each pool will meet in the Cup Final, the runners up in each pool will meet in theta Plate Final, and the wooden spoon rivals will meet in the Bowl final.

If the tournament goes to form, then Russia and the USA are likely to finish last in their pools, which could set up an intriguing clash between the two ahead of the hotly anticipated World Cup clash.

2011 Churchill Cup matches will all be played in England on June 4th, 8th, 12th and 18th.

We’ll bring you updates from each tournament, as well as coverage of the Rugby World Cup, so keep an eye out for our coverage.

Georgia beat Russia to top ENC rugby table is a post from: Siberian Light

It sounds bonkers, but the Georgian government are very serious. A couple of groups of South African farmers have already toured the country looking for suitable properties, and Georgia have even set up a website – www.boers.ge – to sell the country to agricultural investors.

The website’s name gives an interesting indication of the South African politics that are also serving to push this initiative – the marketing is targeted specifically at Boer farmers, who are increasingly disaffected in South Africa. One of the farmers told the BBC:

“The government can come to you, and tell you, this is what we are willing to pay for your farm and you have to sell. If the government doesn’t recognise the value you put on the farm, wants to pay you maybe a half of that, and you have to sell, what security do you have?”

Although the politics behind the move might be suspect to some (the Moscow Times reports that there are already some nationalist Boer websites wondering if the Caucasus is ‘white’ enough for their farmers, and that there are also some Georgians who are suspicious of the plan’s potential to cause ethnic tensions in Georgia) I think that, if this plan comes off, then, on a business level, the move is going to do Georgia’s farming industry a great deal of good – farmers who are experienced at working in a way largely alien to Georgian farming will not only make a success of their own farms but will, through competition, force domestic farmers to improve too.

And, if nothing else, an influx of rugby playing farmers is sure to do boost the already high flying Georgia rugby team!

As an aside – here’s an extract from the boers.ge website that I’m not sure too many people will be able to relate to:

“Georgian Police is one of the most effective polices in the world. Undertaken reforms eliminated corruption and increased trust in population.”

Hmmmm. I’m sure the Georgian police is much better than it used to be, but “one of the most effective polices in the world”? Perhaps not.

South African Farmers to Move to Georgia is a post from: Siberian Light

At the half-way mark, Russia currently lie second in the table, a point behind leaders Georgia, and a point ahead of third placed Portugal. All three sides have an excellent chance of making it to the finals; either through one of the two automatic qualifier spots, or through the absurdly complex playoff that the third placed team will be entered into.

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Russia’s first and last matches will be key this year.

They kick off the season with a home match against Portugal, and given that they won 18-14 in Lisbon last year, they’ll be fairly confident that they can pull off the win they need. Last week’s comfortable win over Namibia, who have already booked their place in the World Cup will have helped to boost confidence, and to sharpen the players skills as well. Portugal, though, will be no push-over. They’ve been to the World Cup before, and will want to go again. And, when they travelled to Georgia last season they matched the title favourites all the way to a sensational 20-20 tie – they’ll be hoping to go a point better against Russia.

If (big if) the results this season follow the formbook exactly, Russia’s last match of the season against great rivals Georgia will be the title decider. Russia’s ‘home’ match last year was played in Ukraine because of tensions between the two countries following the 2008 war, and Georgia defeated Russia 29-21 in a bruising encounter. To ensure parity, and because tensions are still pretty high, this season’s fixture (nominally a home match for Georgia) will be played at a neutral venue in Turkey. Georgia normally draw fanatical crowds of 40,000 plus for their home matches, so Russia will be hoping that the more subdued environment in Turkey lead to a more subdued performance from the Georgian rugby team, too.

Other big matches to watch this season will be Portugal’s return encounter with Georgia on February 13th (in fact, these first two games will decide Portugal’s entire season), and Romania’s matches with all three sides – Romania are no-where near as good as they were in their ‘glory days’ during the 1980s, but they remain a tough team to beat, and still harbour hopes that, if the results go their way and they pull off a shock or two, they could sneak into third place by the end of the season.

Here’s this season’s full fixture list:

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Over the next couple of months we’ll be keeping you up to date with the latest results as, fingers crossed, Russia fight their way through to their first ever appearance at the Rugby World Cup.

Update: Match Reports at Siberian Light

Russia 14 – 10 Portugal – Russia scrape home against Portugal while Georgia are runaway winners at Germany. The Romania – Spain game is called off due to bad weather.

Spain 20 – 38 Russia – A reasonably comfortable win for Russia. Georgia sneak home against Portugal, ensuring that both Russia and Georgia are almost certain to qualify for RWC 2011. Romania thump Germany.

European Nations Cup 2010 – Fixtures and Preview is a post from: Siberian Light

Predictably, VVA were hammered – the final score was 61-17. But by all accounts, the game was a good one, and VVA performed well against a team of full-time professionals who ply their trade in Europe’s toughest domestic league.

The match came about because former England A coach Steve Diamond – who currently has consultancy roles with both the Rugby Union of Russia and the Northampton Saints – wants to give Russian teams more experience of top-level European club rugby.

“VVA have toured South Africa in the past, but climatic differences between our winter and their summer combined with long travel times have forced us to look elsewhere for international opponents,” he said.

“We need competition. It is time for us to move to the international stage and we want to play in the European Challenge Cup.”

Given that Romanian side Bucharest Oaks (a scratch team made up of players from the Romanian domestic league) have been playing in the European Challenge Cup for a few years now and performing reasonably well, it can’t be long before Russia is invited either to send a scratch team like Bucharest, or to send their domestic champions.

Russian clubs are certainly doing their best to prepare for rugby on the international stage – Moscow News Weekly reports that VVA are investing heavily in their future:

Backed by Moscow Region Governor Boris Gromov, VVA is building its own 12,000-seat stadium in Monino. “We hope its completion will bring ECC entry,” head coach Nikolai Nerush said. “Inquiries have started and we are confident the stadium’s full under soil heating will help overcome concerns over climate.”

I can’t think of anything that would boost Russian rugby more than the chance for a Russian team to play regularly against some of Europe’s most establish club sides – and hopefully a Russian team will be joined by teams from other emerging European rugby nations, like Georgia and Portugal, whose clubs are also in desperate need of regular top level competition if they are to develop further.

The profile of Russian rugby has also been boosted by Rugby Union Russia’s recent decision to withdraw its ambitious (foolhardy?) bid to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup and to instead bid to host the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in Moscow. RUR President Viatcheslav Kopiev told reporters that, although the Russian Government had guaranteed £96 million needed to host the full World Cup, the RUR felt that:

“the best focus of our resources for growing the Game within Russia is the identification of single-city tournaments and the role of Sevens in attracting new men, women and children to Rugby.”

I think that this is a really sensible move from RUR – Moscow is a perfect place to hold a short, glamorous Rugby Sevens tournament, and will not only boost Russian rugby, but the image of rugby worldwide – I really wouldn’t bet against Russia being selected to host the 2013 World Cup.

Rugby: Northampton Wanderers 61-17 VVA-Podmoskovie is a post from: Siberian Light

Georgia beat Russia 29-21 in a thrilling encounter to secure first position in the rugby European Nations Cup at the mid-way point of the two-year season.

Held in neutral Ukraine because of last year’s war between the two countries, the game had been keenly anticipated. Georgia, favourites to win the title at the start of the season had stumbled in an earlier game against Portugal and Russia, with a 100% win record, had been considered by many to be the slight favourites.

But it was Georgia who stormed out of the blocks. Three first half tries left the Russians reeling. 21-6 down at the break, they looked to have no chance.

Two second half tries pulled a resilient Russian team back into contention and, at one point, they closed the gap to just three points. But 24-21 was the closest Russia were to get to the title.

One final surge across the try-line, and the Georgians were deserved 29-21 victors.

The result leaves Georgia three points clear of Russia at the mid-way point of this two-year tournament, although Russia have a game in hand against tournament new boys Germany, which should see Russia close the gap to just one point.

This leaves everything to play for next season as Georgia, Russia and Portugal (currently sandwiched between Georgia and Russia in the table) vie for not only the tournament title, but two automatic places at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Sadly I haven’t been able to find full video highlights of the match online. The Georgian fans are very well organised and put videos up on youtube immediately after each match, but sadly they tend to only show their own team’s scores.

Picture courtesy of M Anderson.

Rugby: Georgia beat Russia to top European Nations Cup table is a post from: Siberian Light

Russia finished bottom of the table, and went home with a great deal to think about.  Three defeats from three games against opposition of a roughly similar level can hardly be seen as anything but a disappointment, but a young and experimental Russian side showed enough potential throughout the tournament to leave the Russian team able to look to the future with some confidence.

Italy A were expected to be a class above Russia and their 38-15 victory didn’t come as much of a surprise.  Oddly enough, despite the high Italian scoreline, it was Russia’s defence that impressed most in this match – they certainly got plenty of practice.

The 13-12 defeat by Romania, though, will have hurt.  Russia finished above Romania in the recent European Nations Cup (Six Nations B), and had won their two previous encounters.  Home advantage for the Romanians, plus Russia’s inexperienced team made for an intriguing contest however, in which Russia’s attacking verve frustratingly failed to net them a single try.

Despite this, four penalties from the boot of scrum half Alexander Yanyuskin meant that Russia held a 12-6 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.  Romania saved their best for last, though, and a late try from hooker Florin Tasca sent Romania into the final match with a chance of winning the tournament outright, and sent a dejected Russia into a last match battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

The final match saw Russia’s tournament go from bad to worse when they were beaten 23-19 by Uraguay. Again, Russia led late in the game – in fact, they looked to be cruising with an 18-9 lead, and only five minutes left on the clock.  But Russia’s young team lost their composure – twice in quick succession Uraguay’s scrum overpowered the Russian forwards, who conceded two tries and handed victory to Uraguay, and the wooden spoon to Russia.

Perhaps most galling for Russia, though, will have been the performance of their biggest rival, Georgia, who pushed Emerging South Africa – the team of the tournament all the way before losing 11-3, and then absolutely crushed the Italy A team 25-3.  Remember – this is the Italy A team that had hammered Russia in the first match of the tournament and the Georgia team that only just scraped past Russia to win the European Nations Cup in April.

Although Russia can draw some positives from this tournament, the Georgian players will have gone home absolutely bursting with pride and well deserved confidence. They’ll be actively planning how they are going to challenge some of the more established international teams, such as Tonga and Samoa and, no doubt, they’ll also be plotting how they can pull off a shock or two in the next World Cup…

Russia disappoint in Rugby IRB Nations Cup is a post from: Siberian Light

At their best, Russia were magnificent – they tied with England in Edinburgh this weekend. However, at other times, the Russian Bear seemed rather slothful, losing to teams it should have easily beaten – notably Spain and Portugal.

Edinburgh – Russia tie with England

The high point of the two tournaments had to be Russia’s epic tie with England – a match that Russia came within a whisker of winning.

Russia dominated the first half, rumbling into a 12-0 lead at the break. An Engand recovery in the second half left Russia in the unenviable position of being 17-12 down, with only added time to play. But the Bears rose to the occasion yet again, and kept the ball in play long enough to score an equalising try at the death.

Sadly, they could not convert the try, and secure a victory that would have been regarded as one of the biggest shocks of the season.

The missed kick cost Russia dearly. Had they defeated England, they would have finished second in their group, and qualified for the quarter finals.

Instead, poor points difference meant that England made it through – and eventually finished as tournament runners up.

Russia had to content themselves with a place in the Bowl (the second string) quarter final, where they were absolutey trashed (38-0) by Argentina.

Being relegated yet further, to the Shield tournament clearly did not suit the Russian team. They struggled into the shield final with a 7-0 victory over Kenya, before losing to Portugal in the final.

London Tournament – Russia underperforms

By contrast to the Russian team’s mixed fortunes in Edinburgh, their performance in London was at least consistent. Consistently poor.

Thrashed 31-7 and 33-10 by Scotland and Samoa respectively, Russia’s only respite in the pool stages came with a hard fought 17-7 victory over Kenya.

More disappointment came the next day in the knockout stages. A hard fought 17-12 loss to Canada in the quarter finals of the Bowl (B) tournament, meant Russia were demoted yet again to the semi finals of the Shield (C) tournament. A 12-7 defeat by a Spain team that Russia should really have beaten meant the Bears went home empty handed from their first tournament of the summer.

Clearly, though, the disappointment fired them up for the England game the following week…!

Next Stop – International Nations Cup

Next up for Russia is the International Nations Cup, where the 15 man team will get the opportunity to test themselves against Italy A, Romania and Uraguay. The tourament gets underway next week – expect a full report later this month.

Russia tie with England in Rugby Sevens is a post from: Siberian Light

Although each team still has one game to play, Georgia have now pulled two points clear of Russia. Georgia’s stronger record in head to head matches between the two teams ensures that they will be crowned European Nations Cup champions for 2008.

A match report and video highlights of the game are below.

Bruising encounter

On a snow covered Krasnoyarsk pitch, the Georgian Lelos roared into an early lead.

Otar Barkalaia was rather fortunate to score under the posts after just 7 minutes but, after converting his own try and following up with a penalty on the 20 minute mark he had almost single-handedly given Georgia a 10-0 lead.

Russia, as seems traditional, ground their way back into the game with four penalties from the boot of Yuri Kushnariov. His fourth kick after 68 minutes brought Russia back to within a point of the Lelos. With the momentum and in front of their passionate home crowd, it would have been hard to bet against the Bears at this point.

But David Katcharava had other ideas. Picking up a quick pass from Lasha Malaghuradze, the winger flew past the Russian defence from 15 yards out to score the winning points.

Russia, roared on by their home crowd, threw everything at Georgia in the last few minutes, but despite battering the Georgian try line, they were unable to quite push their way over.

By all accounts, the match was an ill-tempered one. Two massive brawls scarred the game. A free for all late in the second half led to both number 6s being sin-binned. (Although, according to the Georgian Rugby Union reporter, both players then sat side by side in the sin bin, wrapped in blankets and chatting amiably). And, Georgia’s winning try led to a second brawl and a trip to the sin bin for Georgian prop Goderdzi Shvelidze.

For your voyeuristic entertainment, here’s the first brawl in all its glory:

Looking forward

Regardless of the result, the match has provided a tremendous boost for Russian rugby. The match itself was covered live on NTV-Sports, and will have introduced the game to many new fans.

And, after a strong Nations Cup campaign which has seen the Bears rise to 16th in the world rankings, Russia will be looking forward to a series of further high profile matches over the summer.

IRB Nations Cup, June

Most importantly, Russia will be playing in the IRB Nations Cup tournament in Romania this June. The annual tournament was set up in 2006 to give tier 2 nations the opportunity to test themselves against a higher level of competition than they would normally meet in regional competition.

Russia avoided Georgia in the group draw, and will open the tournaments with matches against Italy A, Romania and Uraguay. Georgia, on the other hand, face the much tougher proposition of matches against Uraguay, the Emerging Springboks (South Africa B) and Italy B.

The top 4 teams from the group stages will progress to the Semi-Finals and, from the fixture list, it looks as though Russia have a pretty good shot.

IRB Sevens tournaments

Russia have also had a fairly good season in Sevens, the lighter form of the game. They won the Bowl tournament in the Hong Kong Sevens a few weeks ago, coming from behind to beat Zimbabwe 19-14.

They’ll be looking to build on this success in the upcoming tournaments in Scotland (where, incidentally, Moldova will be playing for the first time) and England.

Georgia edge past Russia in title thriller is a post from: Siberian Light

The win, secured only with two last-gasp penalties, sets up an thrilling winner takes all fight for the title next month, as Russia host old rivals Georgia.

Romania, traditionally a European rugby powerhouse, were never going to be an easy opponent. Lying third in the table, they trailed Russia and Georgia by just one point at the beginning of the match.

But, in front of 3,000 screaming fans at Krasnodar’s Stadium Junost, Russia kept their nerve and came from behind to edge past a determined and well drilled Romanian team.

Last gasp victory

After taking almost the entire game to grind out a 6-3 lead, Russia looked well placed to run down the clock and secure victory. But the Romanian players clearly hadn’t read the script.

With just 12 minutes left to play, a magnificent drive by Romania’s forwards put replacement Valentin Ursache in position to score from a maul. The conversion was missed but the try was enough to take Romania into a narrow 8-6 lead.

Suddenly finding themselves behind, and with the game almost over, the Russians finally kicked into high gear. Romania managed to resist Russia’s relentless attacking play for 8 more minutes, but two penalties in the last four minutes from Yuriy Kushnarev, Russia’s fly-half, gave Russia a last gasp victory.

Russia vs Georgia – winner takes all title fight

Russia now find themselves top of the European Nations Cup table, three points clear of old rivals Georgia.

Georgia have a game in hand and if, as expected, they beat Spain, the Lelos will go back to the top of the table on points difference to set up a thrilling climax to the European Nations Cup tournament on 12 April.

Russia, who lost 31-13 to Georgia in Tblisi last year will be the slight underdogs. Although Russia have risen to 16th in the world rankings – their highest ever – they are still two places behind the experienced Georgians. And Georgia, as some regular commenters will recall, came within a whisker of dumping Ireland out of this summer’s Rugby World Cup.

But with three consecutive wins under their belt, and thousands of home fans behind them, I wouldn’t bet against the Russian Bears winning their first major title.

Check back in a few weeks for a full match report…

(Image Credit: Russian Rugby Union).

Rugby: Russia beat Romania to go top of table is a post from: Siberian Light