Rudoi and Russia roll over Canada

Canada’s pit of despair grew ever deeper as they were humiliated by Russia on Saturday, losing by a score of 43-20 at Twin Elm Park. Anton Rudoi grabbed a hat trick to lead the Bears to their first ever victory over Canada, their previous best result losing by 16 points in both 2009 and 2011.

In truth the scoreline flattered the Canadians somewhat. A late try from Nick Blevins propped up the home side with the visitors already 30 points ahead and firmly stuck in cruise control. The Russians made a mess of the Canadian lineout and the scrum was even more one-sided.

An early penalty goal from Brock Staller got Canada off on the right foot but it was all wrong for the next half hour. Rudoi’s first saw him outpace two outside backs to the line, and two further tries would come at 10-minute intervals. Nikita Vavilin powered over before Rudoi got a second from the back of a scrum.

The only bright spot in the first half came when Luke Campbell charged through the line for a try to put Canada into double-digits before the break, but the joy was almost instantly erased. Alexei Mikhaltsov finished an attacking move and the gloom once again set in for their hosts.

Mikhaltsov made it a double early in the second half, showing good speed to win the race to a kick into in-goal. Canada strangely opted for the posts while staring into 23-point deficit and Staller obliged but to muted reception. Rudoi’s hat trick was symptomatic, the scrum again dominant and his charge from the back virtually unchallenged.

Russia were reduced to 13 men just ahead of the final quarter with Evgeny Pronenko dispatched for a shoulder charge and Rudoi forced to serve time for team infringements. Somehow Canada could not take advantage, however, with Yuri Kushnarev instead landing a penalty goal to rub salt in the wounds.

Having conceded 91 points in two games Canada now face the prospect of a winless June series with the in-form Eagles arriving in Halifax next weekend. Russia had been routed by the USA just a week ago and will take great pleasure from their performance in Ottawa with their World Cup preparations now in full swing. Canada’s participation in the tournament remains insecure.

 

SCORING

CANADA 20
Tries – L. Campbell (34’), N. Blevins (74’)
Cons – B. Staller 1/1 (35’), S. O’Leary 1/1 (74’)
Pens – B. Staller 2/2 (2’, 47’)

RUSSIA 43
Tries – A. Rudoi 3 (10’, 30’, 54’), N. Vavilin (19’), A. Mikhaltsov 2 (37’, 43’)
Cons – Y. Kushnarev 5/6 (20’, 31’, 38’, 44′, 55’)
Pens – Y. Kushnarev 1/1 (68’)
Yellow cards – E. Pronenko (56’), A Rudoi (59’)

 

TEAMS

CANADA
1 Noah Barker (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 31’), 2 Ray Barkwill (16 Eric Howard 56’), 3 Cole Keith (18 Ryan Kotlewski 69’), 4 Josh Larsen (19 Conor Keys 72’), 5 Evan Olmstead, 6 Dustin Dobravsky (20 Matt Heaton 56’), 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Luke Campbell, 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Jorden Sandover-Best 56’), 10 Theo Sauder (23 Guiseppe du Toit 66’), 11 Cole Davis, 12 Nick Blevins, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Jeff Hassler, 15 Brock Staller (22 Shane O’Leary 56’)

RUSSIA
1 Valeri Morozov (17 Sergei Sekisov 58’), 2 Stanislav Selskiy (16 Evgeny Matveev 58’), 3 Evgeny Pronenko (18 Anton Drozdov 66’), 4 Bogdan Fedotko, 5 Andrei Garbuzov, 6 Nikita Vavilin (20 Anton Sychev HT), 7 Dmitri Krotov (19 Tagir Gadzhiev 48’), 8 Anton Rudoi, 9 Alexei Shcherban (21 Vasili Dorofeev 58’), 10 Yuri Kushnarev (22 Alexander Budychenko 75’), 11 Alexei Mikhaltsov (18 Anton Drozdov 61’-66’), 12 Sergei Trishin (23 German Godlyuk 74’), 13 Kirill Golosnitskiy, 14 Mikhail Babaev, 15 Vasili Artemiev (capt.)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assistants: George Clancy (IRFU) & Alex Ruiz (FFR)
TMO: Andrew McMaster (RC)

 

Attendance: 3,312