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RWC 2019 will make the second appearance of the world’s largest country on rugby’s biggest stage. With the rebranding from the former International Rugby Board (IRB) to World Rugby the opportunity of opening a RWC with Japan vs Russia is a dream come true for the organizers.
Not only is having two of the world’s most notable countries open RWC 2019 of note but Japan vs Russia as a fixture will be a breath of fresh air. It is a competitive match between teams from outside of the Tier 1.
Russia will not be going into the match with any other interest other than winning. Their never-say-die attitude at RWC 2011 in New Zealand saw them winning over many supporters. RWC 2019 marks a second opportunity and has a series of four interesting matches.
WORLD CUP HISTORY
| RWC | FINAL PLACING | RESULTS |
| 1987 | Did Not Exist (Part of USSR) | – |
| 1991 | Did Not Exist (Part of USSR) | – |
| 1995 | Did Not Qualify | – |
| 1999 | Did Not Qualify | – |
| 2003 | Did Not Qualify | – |
| 2007 | Did Not Qualify | – |
| 2011 | Group Stage | Lost vs Australia, Ireland, Italy, USA |
| 2015 | Did Not Qualify | – |
Overall Record: Played 4, Won 0, Lost 4
RWC 2019 SCHEDULE
Russia has difficult decisions to make about which matches are to take priority. The opening fixture will be the tournament opener with their second match being against Samoa following a three day rest. With the minimum recovering time permitted will Russia field their top players for just one or for both of these matches?
Also of note is that game’s three and four are to be against Ireland, and Scotland. This fact will raise further questions over perhaps resting leading players against Scotland to have them fully recovered from the opening two matches.
Travel will not be a concern for Russia. All matches are to be on Honshu island with no overly significant distances to be covered between fixtures.
With their final match being on October 09 they will complete their pool matches before the four other Pool A participants. Ireland, and Samoa will finish three days later while Japan and Scotland will do so four days after Russia.
| DATE | OPPONENT | VENUE |
| Fri, Sept 20 | Japan | Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo |
| Tues, Sept 24 | Samoa | Kumagaya Stadium, Kumagaya |
| Thurs, Oct 03 | Ireland | Misaki Stadium, Kobe |
| Wed, Oct 09 | Scotland | Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka |
PREDICTED TRAVELING 31
Forwards: Sergey Chernyshev (Slava Moscow), Evgeny Matveev (VVA Saracens), Stanislav Selskii (Enisey-STM), Kirill Gotovtsev (Krasny Yar), Evgeny Mishechkin (Slava Moscow), Vladimir Podrezov (VVA Saracens), Andrei Polivalov (VVA Saracens), Innokenty Zykov (Enisei-STM), Evgeny Elgin (Enisei-STM), Andrei Garbuzov (Krasny Yar), Alexander Ilin (Krasny Yar), Andrei Ostrikov (Sale Sharks, UK), Tagir Gadzhiev (Kuban), Victor Gresev (Krasny Yar), Roman Khodin (Kuban), Patris Peki (VVA Saracens), Anton Rudoy (Krasny Yar), Vitaly Zhivatov (VVA Saracens)
Backs: Vasily Dorofeev (Krasny Yar), Dmitri Perov (VVA Saracens), Ramil Gaisin (Enisei-STM), Sergey Ianyushkin (Lokomotiv), Yury Kushnarev (Krasny Yar), Dmitry Gerasimov (Enisei-STM), Kirill Golosnitskiy (Krasny Yar), Vladimir Ostroushko (Kuban), Denis Simplikevich (Enisei-STM), Vasily Artemyev (Krasny Yar), Nikita Churashov (Enisei-STM), German Davydov (VVA Saracens), German Godlyuk (VVA Saracens) Vladislav Sozonov (VVA Saracens)
PROJECTED MATCH-DAY LINE-UP
1 Andrei Polivalov, 2 Evgeny Matveev, 3 Vladimir Podrezov, 4 Andrei Garbuzov, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 6 Victor Gresev, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 8 Anton Rudoy, 9 Dmitri Perov, 10 Yury Kushnarev, 11 Vladislav Sozonov, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 14 German Davydov, 15 Vasily Artemyev (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Sergey Chernyshev, 17 Evgeny Mishechkin, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Alexander Ilin, 20 Vitaly Zhivatov, 21 Ramil Gaisin, 22 Sergey Ianyushkin, 23 Nikita Churashov
Key Back: Vladimir Ostroushko
Key Forward: Tagir Gadzhiev
Talisman: Anton Rudoy
RWC 2019 PREVIEW
Russia’s path to RWC 2019 shook the grounds of the sport. The Bears took the spot of Romania who had qualified as Europe 1 only to have been found guilty of breaching player eligibility laws. The process also saw Belgium, and Spain disqualified from qualifiers and followed an earlier decision against Tahiti.
Russia thereby replaced Romania in Pool A and will play Japan in the tournament opener. The teams met last November in an entertaining match won 32-27 by the Japanese. That match was the only instance of Russia facing a pool opponent during the RWC 2015-2019 cycle.
Overall Russia has done well since RWC 2015. The Bears recorded wins over a range of opponents including Belgium, Canada, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Kenya, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Spain, and Zimbabwe.
Russia are the bottom seeded team in Pool A. Based on this alone they are projected to not win a match. The aforementioned scheduling does not help the cause with Russia’s difficult task being further complicated based on match dates. Russia will lose to Japan, Ireland, Samoa, and Scotland.
Week 1 – Italy
Week 2 – Fiji
Week 3 – Japan
Week 4 – England
Week 5 – Namibia
Week 6 – Wales
Week 7 – Samoa
Week 8 – France
Week 9 – South Africa
Week 10 – Georgia
Week 11 – Scotland
Week 12 – Tonga
Week 13 – New Zealand
Week 14 – Ireland
Week 15 – Australia
Week 16 – Russia
Week 17 – USA
