Russia confirm squad for North American tour

Interim Russia coach Mark McDermott has confirmed his list of 28 players to take part on the two-match tour to North America. The Bears will land in the USA first, taking on the Eagles in Denver before heading north to Edmonton for a match against Canada.

It’s an odd moment in time for Russia, who did not play well in the Rugby Europe Championship and originally missed out on World Cup qualification only to be handed a free ticket with the effective expulsion of Romania and Spain. They must still await the results of appeals heard on June 1 but have tentatively begun the search for a permanent head coach and have incorporated a handful of young talent with an eye towards Japan 2019.

There is one uncapped player named in 21-year-old tighthead prop Anton Drozdov. Another youngster at the same position is Evgeny Mishechkin, and there are two promising openside flankers named in Anton Sychev and Nikita Vavilin.

Flyhalf or fullback German Godlyuk has been selected ahead of the experienced Anton Ryabov, and there is a beefy look to the midfield with the inclusion of hard-nosed Kirill Golosnitskiy alongside 50-cap veterans Dmitri Gerasimov and Sergei Trishin. Another fullback option is 20-year-old Alexander Budychenko who has already played eight tests.

On the other hand there are seven players included who took part in Russia’s only previous World Cup appearance in 2011. Hookers Evgeni Matveev and Valeri Tsnobiladze are joined by second row Andrei Garbuzov up front. In the backs it’s flyhalf Yuri Kushnarev – just three caps short of a century – and outside backs Vasili Artemiev and Mikhail Babaev along with Trishin who made the trip to New Zealand.

Among the notables absent are Sale Sharks lock Andrei Ostrikov and former Wasps loose forward Viktor Gresev. A number of leading backs are currently preparing for the Rugby World Cup Sevens including flyhalf Ramil Gaisin, midfielder Igor Galinovski, and outside back trio German Davydov, Vladimir Ostroushko, and Denis Simplikevich.

A detailed squad list can be seen here.

FORWARDS
Valeri Morozov (Enisei STM), Sergei Sekisov (VVA), Evgeni Matveev (VVA), Stanislav Selskiy (Enisei STM), Valeri Tsnobiladze (Krasny Yar), Anton Drozdov (VVA), Evgeny Mishechkin (Slava), Evgeny Pronenko (Enisei STM), Evgeny Elgin (Enisei STM), Bogdan Fedotko (Krasny Yar), Andrei Garbuzov (Krasny Yar), Tagir Gadzhiev (Kuban), Dimitri Krotov (Enisei STM), Anton Rudoi (Enisei STM), Anton Sychev (Metallurg), Nikita Vavilin (Slava)

BACKS
Vasili Dorofeev (Krasny Yar), Alexei Shcherban (Enisei STM), Konstantin Uzunov (Enisei STM), German Godlyuk (VVA), Yuri Kushnarev (Enisei STM), Dmitri Gerasimov (Enisei STM), Kirill Golosnitskiy (Krasny Yar), Sergei Trishin (VVA), Vasili Artemiev (capt., Krasny Yar), Mikhail Babaev (VVA), Alexander Mikhaltsov (Enisei STM), Alexander Budychenko (Enisei STM)