Russian 13 is lucky for some

Russia’s squad for its first-ever Rugby World Cup campaign has put the town of Monino, on the outskirts of Moscow, on the map.

Thirteen players from the VVA-Podmoskovye side have made the squad for New Zealand – the joint-largest contingent of any club team in the tournament, matching Leinster’s contribution to Pool C rivals Ireland. The Russians are captained by hooker Vladislav Korshunov.

Second row Adam Byrnes, from Super 15 side the Melbourne Rebels, is one of two uncapped players, with Denis Simplikevich. The Australian-born Byrnes, whose girlfriend is Australian Olympic swimmer Sophie Edington, qualifies through his Soviet-born maternal grandparents.

Byrnes is one of five foreign-based players in the squad: wing Vasily Artemyev and second row Andrey Ostrikov play for English sides Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks respectively, while Viatcheslav Grachev and Konstantin Rachkov are with French teams Bizanos and Stade Phocéen.

Grachev, the vice captain, is at 38 the oldest player in a RWC 2011 squad.

The coaching team, headed by Nikolay Nerush, has a distinctive cosmopolitan flavour. Former Wales flanker and Sale coach Kingsley Jones is team director; Henry Paul, a dual international with New Zealand rugby league and England rugby union, is the backs coach; and Welshman Darren Morris, a British and Irish Lion, is the scrum coach.

Russia squad for RWC 2011:

Forwards: Denis Antonov, Vladimir Botvinnikov, Adam Byrnes, Artem Fatakhov, Andrey Garbuzov, Viatcheslav Grachev, Victor Gresev, Alexander Khrokin, Vladislav Korshunov (captain), Evgenii Matveev, Andrey Ostrikov, Sergey Popov, Ivan Prishchepenko, Mikhail Sidorov, Alexey Travkin, Valeriy Tsnobiladze, Alexander Voytov.

Backs: Vasily Artemyev, Mikhail Babaev, Andrey Bykanov, Igor Galinovskiy, Igor Klyuchnikov, Yury Kushnarev, Andrey Kuzin, Alexey Makovetskiy, Vladimir Ostroushko, Konstantin Rachkov, Alexander Shakirov, Denis Simplikevich, Alexander Yanyushkin.

Squad subject to RWCL approval