Russians in Namibia
As they prepare for the European Nations Cup and a possible place in the Rugby World Cup, Russia have been spending their time in Southern Africa, mostly in Pretoria but this weekend they go west to play Namibia in the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday afternoon.
This will be the first Test for the two sides this year, though Russia have played matches in Pretoria. They have a large squad and are able to field two teams. Their main team has not fared all that well, losing 20-6 to the University of Pretoria (Tukkies) and 36-21 to the young Blue Bulls side that will play in the Vodacom Cup, as Namibia will be doing from next month.
But Russia are ranked at 18th on the IRB’s rankings while Namibia are at 22nd.
Russia have the immediate problem of qualification for the World Cup for the first time while Namibia, already qualified, wish to prepare for their fourth World Cup.
Russia are without veteran scrumhalf Victor Motorin, who captained the team last year, and big lock Kiril Koulemine who plays for Castres in the Top 14. The captain against Namibia is hooker Vlad Korshunov, who captained Russia in their first-ever match against Canada in November last year, a match Canada won 22-6.
But Namibia are without several players playing Europe – Kees Lensing (Castres), Piet van Zyl (Bourgoin), Jacques Burger (Saracens), Tinus du Plessis (Rotherham Titans) and Jacques Nieuwenhuis (Aurillac), but they do have their players based in South Africa.
The match is an historic first for the two teams when they meet at the Hage Geingob Stadium. The stadium is named after the first prime minister of Namibia when the country became a republic in 1991. He qualified as a school master but hardly taught and then obtained a bachelor’s degree at Fordham University in New York, then a master’s degree at the New York’s New School for Social Research. He obtained a PhD from Leeds university and holds four honorary doctorates – from Columbia University, Delhi University, the American University of Rome and the University of Namibia.
An ex-player, he was made patron of the Namibia Rugby Union in 1991.
Their previous encounter was at South West Stadium in Windhoek in 1994 when Russia won 31-12.
Teams:
Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 McGrath van Wyk, 13 Bradley Langenhoven, 12 David Philander, 11 Llewellyn Winkler, 10 Emile Wessels, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 PJ van Lill, 7 Tomashu Forbes, 6 André Vermeulen, 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Wacca Kazombiaze, 3 Jané du Toit (captain), 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Johnny Redelinghuys.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Esterhuizen, 17 Marius Visser, 18 Heinz Koll, 19 Renaud van Neel, 20 Eniel Buitendag, 21 Tinus Venter, 22 Daryl de la Harpe.
Coaches: Johan Diergaardt, Ewert Smit
Russian squad: Alexander Khrokin (VVA), Karlo Maglakelidze (Imperia Penza), Vlad Korshunov (VVA) (captain), Evgeny Pronenko (Enisey-STM), Alexander Voytov (VVA), Victor Gresev (VVA), Artem Fatakhov (VVA), Evgeny Matveev (VVA), Yury Kushnarev (VVA), Andrey Kuzin (VVA), Alexander Gvozdovskiy (Krasny Yar), Igor Galinovskiy (Krasny Yar), Mikhail Babaev (VVA), Igor Kluchnikov (VVA), Alexey Travkin (VVA), Alexander Yanushkin (VVA), Vasily Artemiev (VVA), Alexaey Tolstykh (Krasny Yar), Kirill Kushnarev (VVA), Andrey Temnov (Enisey-STM), Alexey Panasenko (VVA), Andrey Garbuzov (Krasny Yar), Alexey Korobeynikov (Enisey-STM), Alexey Makovetskiy (Krasny Yar)
Coaches: Nikolay Nerush, Steve Diamond, Joshua Barksdal
