Russian coach unveils 'new' Bears
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Russian coach Lyn Jones has made nine changes to his starting line-up for the Bears’ final World Cup Pool A match.
They face Scotland in Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa on Wednesday.
Prop Kirill Gotovtsev, flank Tagir Gadzhiev, wing German Davydov and fullback and captain Vasily Artemyev will make their fourth starts of the World Cup, while halfbacks Dmitry Perov and Ramil Gaisin are retained from the 0-35 loss Ireland.
The inclusion of Artemyev means he will have started all eight of Russia’s World Cup matches since their debut in New Zealand in 1987.
He will lead his country for a record 34th time in Shizuoka, and his 29 test tries are a record for the Bears.
Centre Vladimir Ostroushko will also be making his eighth World Cup appearance, as he returns to the starting XV after coming off the bench in the final quarter against Ireland.
Second row Andrey Garbuzov would join Artemyev and Ostroushko in the eight-cap club if he comes off the bench on Wednesday.
Neither of Russia’s points scorers at this World Cup starts the match.
Flyhalf Yury Kushnarev, who has kicked 14 points, is on the bench, while centre Kirill Golosnitskiy, who scored the opening try of the tournament against Japan, is out of the 23 after colliding with a post while attempting to prevent Ireland flank Peter O’Mahony’s try in Kobe.
Russia: 15 Vasily Artemyev (captain), 14 German Davydov, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 11 Vladislav Sozonov, 10 Ramil Gaisin,
9 Dimitry Perov, 8 Nikita Vavilin, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 6 Vitaly Zhivatov, 5 Evgeny Elgin, 4 Andrey Ostrikov, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Stanislav
Selskii, 1 Valery Morozov.
Replacements: 16 Sergey Chernyshev, 17 Azamat Bitiev, 18 Vladimir Podrezov, 19 Bogdan Fedotko, 20 Andrey Garbuzov, 21 Sergey Ianiushkin,
22 Anton Sychev, 23 Yury Kushnarev.
Date: Wednesday, October 9
Venue: Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka Prefecture
Kick-off: 16.15 (07.15 GMT; 08.15 UK & Ireland time; 10.15 Russia-Moscow time)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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