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In one of their greatest results in history, Russia completed a victory over Canada in Ottawa earlier this month. The match was the second of two matches in North America for the Bears while it was the second of three home June Internationals for the Canadians.
Russia went into the match as underdogs. They did so after having been soundly beaten by the USA one week earlier. Canada was coming off a heavy defeat of their own, having been downed by Scotland in Edmonton.
Russia’s tour to North America marked their first test matches since securing their place at RWC 2019. Russia did so after World Rugby disqualified Belgium, Romania, and Spain from the qualifying process. As the highest placed European qualifying competitor which did not breach eligibility laws Russia replaced Romania as Europe 1 for Japan 2019.
Russia’s qualification gives rugby a dream tournament opener with Tokyo to be the setting for Japan vs Russia. While neither side has Tier 1 status the fixture is precisely what the rebranding of the International Rugby Board into World Rugby was seeking to achieve – global appeal.
Canada is yet to qualify for RWC 2019 though should they do so they will be very satisfied to be in the same pool as Africa 1. With Africa 1 set to be the lowest ranked team in the tournament it is Canada’s best shot at a victory. Italy, New Zealand, and South Africa complete the extremely challenging pool.
The June 2018 home test against Russia saw Canada losing for the first time against the Bears. In prior outings Russia’s best return had been losses by margins of 16 points in both 2009 and 2011.
For a complete match report click here.
