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.

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.

Players

For all past and present players who have appeared for the national team, see Russia national rugby league team players.

Current squad

Squad selected for the 2021 World Cup qualifying fixtures;

• 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 2012:

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	1	1	0	0	2012
Ireland	2004	3	1	0	2	2007
Italy	2011	1	0	0	1	2011
Latvia	2010	1	1	0	0	2010
Lebanon	2006	3	1	0	2	2008
Netherlands	2006	1	1	0	0	2006
Ukraine	2010	2	2	0	0	2011
United States	1994	5	5	0	0	2004
Scotland	1995	1	0	0	1	1992
Serbia	2006	2	2	0	0	2008
South Africa	1992	2	2	0	0	1992
Wales	2003	1	0	0	1	2003
Total	1994	22	15	0	7	'

Results and fixtures

For all past match results, see the team's results page.

IRL Men's World Rankings
Official rankings as of December 2024
Rank	Change	Team	Pts %
1		Australia	100
2		New Zealand	86
3		England	84
4	1	Tonga	63
5	1	Samoa	54
6	1	Papua New Guinea	53
7	1	Fiji	44
8		France	30
9	2	Serbia	23
10		Cook Islands	22
11	1	Netherlands	22
12	5	Wales	18
13	2	Malta	17
14	6	Ukraine	13
15	1	Greece	12
16	7	Lebanon	12
17	4	Italy	11
18	2	Ireland	9
19	1	Jamaica	8
20	1	Czech Republic	8
21	2	Chile	8
22	3	Scotland	7
23	4	Philippines	7
24	7	United States	7
25	1	Poland	5
26	2	South Africa	5
27	5	Germany	5
28	3	Norway	5
29	4	Brazil	4
30	4	Kenya	4
31	10	Canada	4
32		Montenegro	4
33	2	North Macedonia	3
34	15	Argentina	3
35	5	Albania	2
36		Bulgaria	2
37	7	Ghana	2
38	9	Nigeria	2
39	5	Turkey	1
40	3	Cameroon	1
41	2	Japan	1
42	4	Spain	1
43	1	Colombia	1
44	1	El Salvador	0
45		Russia	0
46	1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0
47	3	Hong Kong	0
48	3	Solomon Islands	0
49	8	Vanuatu	0
50		Niue	0
51	1	Latvia	0
52	2	Denmark	0
53	2	Belgium	0
54	4	Estonia	0
55	9	Sweden	0
56	12	Morocco	0
48	9	Hungary	0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

• Russia def. Ukraine 24-18 (24 May 2014) (European Championship B)
• Russia def. Germany 30-0 (August 10, 2013) RLEF European Shield
• Italy def. Russia 38-18 (29 June 2013) RLEF European Shield
• Russia def. Serbia 24-10 (May 25, 2013) RLEF European Shield
• Russia def. Serbia 21-20 (September 22, 2012) RLEF European Shield
• Russia def. Italy 32-18 (8 September 2012) RLEF European Shield
• Russia def. Germany 32-26 (19 May 2012) RLEF European Shield
• Italy def. Russia 92-6 (15 October 2011) 2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifying, Europe Division
• Russia def. Ukraine 34-6 (10 September 2011)
• Russia def. Latvia 54-4 (31 July 2010) European Shield West
• Russia def. Ukraine 64-14 (27 June 2010) European Shield West
• Russia def. Lebanon 80-0 (September 28, 2008) RLEF Euro Med Challenge
• Russia def. Serbia 30-4 (September 20, 2008) RLEF Euro Med Challenge
• Lebanon def. Russia 48-0 (27 October 2007)
• Ireland def. Russia 58-18 (20 October 2007)
• Lebanon def. Russia 22-8 (28 October 2006)
• Ireland def. Russia 50-12(22 October 2006)
• Russia def. Serbia 44-6 (4 June 2006)
• Russia def. Netherlands 40-14 (28 April 2006)
• France def. Russia 80-0 (15 October 2005)
• England A def. Russia (24 October 2004)
• France def. Russia 58-10 (16 October 2004)
• Russia def. Ireland 64-6 (16 May 2004)
• Russia def. USA 64-8 (12 May 2004)
• England A def. Russia 102-0 (2 November 2003)
• Wales def. Russia 74-4 (26 October 2003)
• France def. Russia 29-12 (9 May 2003)
• Russia def. USA 44-12 (6 May 2003)
• Russia def. USA 54-10 (13 September 2002)
• Australia def. Russia 110-4 (4 November 2000) 2000 Rugby League World Cup
• England def. Russia 76-4 (1 November 2000) 2000 Rugby League World Cup
• Fiji def. Russia 38-12 (29 October 2000) 2000 Rugby League World Cup
• France def. Russia 82-0 (3 July 2000)
• Russia def. USA 28-26 (20 October 1995)
• Cook Islands def. Russia 58-4 (18 October 1995)
• Scotland def. Russia 34-9 (16 October 1995)
• Russia def. USA 19-12 (1994)
• France def. Russia 30-14 (1993)

COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS):

• CIS def. South Africa 22-19 (1992)
• CIS def. South Africa 30-26 (1992)
• France def. CIS 38-4 (1992)
• France def. CIS 28-8 (1992)

SOVIET UNION (USSR):

• France def. USSR 26-6 (1991)

See also

• Rugby league in Russia
• Russia women's national rugby league team
• Victory Cup
• European Nations Cup
• Emerging Nations Tournament
• World Cup

External links

• Official website
• Russia national rugby league team on Facebook