Russia's rugby team squeaked in as a qualifier to the World Cup but has big dreams of winning a game in the tournament for the first time ever.
With little rugby tradition in Russia, the team trained by Welshman Lyn Jones has faced an uphill battle to gain recognition at home and respect from other rugby nations.This will be Russia's second World Cup after it debuted in New Zealand in 2011. They scored an impressive nine tries and ran the United States close, losing 13-6, but took heavily defeats against the more heavyweight Italy, Ireland and Australia.
"If we could win a game of rugby, that would be just fantastic for us," Jones said at a press conference in Moscow. The team is captained by Vasily Artemyev, a 32-year-old who trained in Ireland and played for Northampton Saints in England before returning to Russia to become a driving force in promoting the game.
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