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The Russian Rugby Federation have announced their squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The Russia squad is mostly made up of players from Russia’s domestic leagues, plus a few players who ply their trade abroad.
The big surprise in the squad is the inclusion of Adam Byrne, an Australian forward who hasn’t played for Russia before, but qualifies due to his Russian grandparents. Byrne is one of five foreign based players in the squad – the others are winger Vasily Artemev, who has just signed for Northampton Saints, lock Andrei Ostrikov (Sale Sharks), No 8 and Vice Captain Viacheslav Grachev (Bizanos) and fly-half Konstantin Rachkov (Stade Phocéen).
The Russian team will be captained by hooker Vladislav Korshunov from Russia’s top club VVA-Podmoskovye. With 54 caps to his name, he is one of Russia’s most experienced players by far. In total, VVA have provided 13 of the players in the 30-strong Russian squad.
Take a look at the table below for full details of Russia’s squad.
| Player | Position | Date of Birth (Age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vladislav Korshunov (c) | Hooker | 13 February 1983 (age 28) | 54 |  VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Evgeni Matveev | Hooker | 15 April 1985 (age 26) | 29 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Valeri Tsnobiladze | Hooker | 3 November 1980 (age 30) | 4 | Novokuznetsk |
| Alexander Khrokin | Prop | 10 July 1976 (age 35) | 67 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Sergey Popov | Prop | 7 September 1982 (age 28) | 14 | Slava Moscow |
| Ivan Prishchepenko | Prop | 26 May 1982 (age 29) | 33 | Krasny Yar |
| Alexei Travkin | Prop | 2 August 1977 (age 34) | 46 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Denis Antonov | Lock | 17 September 1986 (age 24) | 2 | Slava Moscow |
| Adam Byrnes | Lock | 29 July 1981 (age 30) | 0 |  Melbourne Rebels |
| Andrei Ostrikov | Lock | 2 July 1987 (age 24) | 15 |  Sale Sharks |
| Alexander Voytov | Lock | 7 December 1981 (age 29) | 44 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Artem Fatakhov | Flanker | 8 September 1979 (age 31) | 37 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Andrey Garbuzov | Flanker | 7 August 1983 (age 28) | 31 | Krasny Yar |
| Mikhail Sidorov | Flanker | 19 November 1986 (age 24) | 1 | Slava Moscow |
| Viacheslav Grachev (vc) | Number 8 | 22 April 1973 (age 38) | 36 |  Bizanos |
| Victor Gresev | Number 8 | 31 March 1986 (age 25) | 32 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Andrei Bykanov | Scrum-half | 25 May 1980 (age 31) | 7 | Slava Moscow |
| Alexander Shakirov | Scrum-half | 20 January 1981 (age 30) | 46 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Alexander Yanyushkin | Scrum-half | 30 October 1982 (age 28) | 42 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Yuri Kushnarev | Fly-half | 6 June 1985 (age 26) | 43 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Konstantin Rachkov | Fly-half | 8 October 1978 (age 32) | 26 | Stade Phocéen |
| Mikhail Babaev | Centre | 19 January 1986 (age 25) | 33 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Igor Galinovskiy | Centre | 8 November 1985 (age 25) | 18 | Krasny Yar |
| Alexei Makovetski | Centre | 27 March 1983 (age 28) | 11 | Krasny Yar |
| Vasily Artemiev | Wing | 24 July 1987 (age 24) | 25 | Northampton Saints |
| Andrei Kuzin | Wing | 29 October 1978 (age 32) | 59 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Vladimir Ostroushko | Wing | 30 September 1986 (age 24) | 16 | Yenisey-STM |
| Igor Klyuchnikov | Fullback | 7 January 1983 (age 28) | 49 | VVA-Podmoskovye |
| Denis Simplikevich | Fullback | 11 March 1991 (age 20) | 0 | Yenisey-STM |
Return to the Russia Rugby World Cup Homepage.
how does adam byrnes qualify for RWC team
His grandparents (maternal, I think) were from Russia. He’s never played for Russia before and was ‘discovered’ after the Russian team’s management put out a call for players with Russian ancestry to come forward and consider playing for the motherland.