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Sleeping giant have 'Everest to climb' to be ready for Pool A in Rugby World Cup

Russia in 2011 in New Zealand (Getty Images)
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Former Wales flanker Lyn Jones admits he has an “Everest to climb” to make Russia competitive at next year’s Rugby World Cup where they will open the tournament against hosts Japan.

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The two teams meet in the less glamorous surroundings of Gloucester’s Kingsholm stadium on Saturday, 10 month before the eyes of the rugby world will be on them at the 50,000 seat Tokyo Stadium on September 20. The Japan team are coming off a 35-15 loss to England which saw them grab a 15-10 half time lead before Eddie Jones’s men moved up the gears for a comfortable win at Twickenham.

Now Jones, whose Russian team finished fourth in the European Nations Cup but moved up to second after the controversial demotion of Romania and Spain for fielding ineligible players, are preparing for Cup fixtures in Pool A against Ireland, Scotland, Samoa and Japan.

“My appointment was going to be for the long term, but since that we’ve been handed an opportunity to play in the World Cup which gives me a bit of an Everest in front of me,” Jones told BBC Sport Wales. “We’ve landed a hot-spot in the Rugby World Cup by default, so we’ve got a mountain to climb.

Pocock on the charge versus Russia in 2011 (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“We’re excited, the players are delighted and it’s going to be the most exciting year of their rugby career. They’re focused, and Russian boys work hard, they’re disciplined and they’re proud.”

Russia have two players with experience of the English Premiership in Sale lock Andrei Ostrikov and former Northampton back Vasily Artemyev, while their top club sides have been given European exposure in the Challenge Cup. Jones is convinced Russia is a “sleeping giant” and knows the World Cup could be a significant moment in the country’s rugby life.

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“We have the hosts on day one, then we play Samoa four days after, and as poor as they are for three years, for the World Cup year they can be very tasty with all their big hitters back,” added Jones who coached the Ospreys and Dragons in Wales. “Then there’s the small matter of taking on Ireland and the ‘Scottish Barbarians’, so it’s a great challenge.

“We saw huge performances from Japan and Namibia in the last World Cup, so anything can happen on the day. I went in with my eyes wide open, in tier two nations there’s a huge (sporting) political system. But there’s a lot of good rugby players in Russia, and it’s a sleeping giant.

“There are lots of plans for the long-term development of the game; at the moment it’s about the short term, but there’s lots of good things going on.”

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PC 36 minutes ago
Is the magic thread of Super Rugby in need of a new pattern?

An Eight team NPC is the perfect size domestic competition for NZ. The problem Australia faces is a problem that it has faced for all of its modern history. The tyranny of distance. The tyranny of distance makes professional rugby an expensive proposition. The tyranny of distance has meant that whilst NSW and Qld were the traditional powerhouses of Rugby in Australia the rest of the country broadly speaking played another sport entirely. Super Rugby ever since its inception has been trying to square this circle. The old fashioned state based system, a by product of the colonial era might suit cricket but it doesn’t suit a football code trying to grow a national footprint. As I see it. Rugby needs to mirror NZ’s NPC. Create a national competition based not around some historic happenstance but where Rugby’s market actually exists or seeks to be. An Eight team based competition featuring 2 Sydney based teams, North and South of the Harbour. 2 Brisbane based teams and 4 others.

Rugby could then supplement this concept with cross tasman fixtures, state of origin fixtures etc as needs or the market dictates. There would be no shortage of product to sell to the media but the biggest selling point in any negotiations surely would have to be the concept of a national competition full of rivalry’s, tribalism etc scheduled at a time and a place that suits its market and not someone else’s. Cross Tasman fixtures would be the icing on the cake not the cake itself.



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