On August 13, the Russian national rugby team moved from Northampton to the capital of Wales, Cardiff, where they were part of the 73,000 crowd which watched the Welsh beat England in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
The Bears will play two games in Wales themselves, the first against Newport Gwent Dragons on Tuesday August 16 at 19:00 local time. The game will take place at Rodney Parade and will be the first time the Welsh region have played an international side.
There are wholesale changes - thirteen in all, including two positional - to the team which went down 54:19 to Northampton Saints on Friday.
In the front row, Enisey-STM prop Vladimir Botvinnikov packs down with Novokuznetsk hooker Valeriy Tsnobiladze and VVA-Podmoskovye tight-head Alexander Khrokin. Alexander Voytov and Denis Antonov both retain their places in the second row, while an all-new backs sees Kirill Kushnarev, Andrey Garbuzov and Viatcheslav Grachev named as starters.
At half-back, another France-based player, Konstantin Rachkov starts at fly-half with Slava Moscow's Andrey Bykanov at scrum-half. Sergey Trishin lines up outside Igor Galinovsky in the centres, while an experimental selection in the back three sees Igor Klyuchnikov move to wing, Yury Kushnarev start at full-back, and Denis Simplikevich starts his first game for the national team on the right wing.
Starting line-up vs. Newport Gwent Dragons
15. Yury Kushnarev - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
14. Denis Simplikevich - Enisey-STM (Krasnoyarsk)
13. Sergey Trishin - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
12. Igor Galinovsky -Krasniy Yar (Krasnoyarsk)
11. Igor Klyuchnikov - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
10. Konstantin Rachkov - Stade Phoceen (France)
9. Andrey Bykanov - Slava-ShVSM (Moscow)
1. Vladimir Botvinnikov - Enisey-STM (Krasnoyarsk)
2. Valeriy Tsnobiladze - Novokuznetsk (Novokuznetsk)
3. Alexander Khrokin - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
4. Alexander Voytov - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
5. Denis Antonov - Slava-ShVSM (Moscow)
6. Kirill Kushnarev - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
7. Andrey Garbuzov -Krasniy Yar (Krasnoyarsk)
8. Viatcheslav Grachev - Bizanos (France)
Substitutes from:
Evgeny Matveev, Alexey Travkin, Kirill Kopeshkin, Andrey Temnov, Artem Fatakhov, Alexander Yanyushkin, Sergey Sugrobov, Mikhail Babaev, Andrey Kuzin
The Bears will play two games in Wales themselves, the first against Newport Gwent Dragons on Tuesday August 16 at 19:00 local time. The game will take place at Rodney Parade and will be the first time the Welsh region have played an international side.
There are wholesale changes - thirteen in all, including two positional - to the team which went down 54:19 to Northampton Saints on Friday.
In the front row, Enisey-STM prop Vladimir Botvinnikov packs down with Novokuznetsk hooker Valeriy Tsnobiladze and VVA-Podmoskovye tight-head Alexander Khrokin. Alexander Voytov and Denis Antonov both retain their places in the second row, while an all-new backs sees Kirill Kushnarev, Andrey Garbuzov and Viatcheslav Grachev named as starters.
At half-back, another France-based player, Konstantin Rachkov starts at fly-half with Slava Moscow's Andrey Bykanov at scrum-half. Sergey Trishin lines up outside Igor Galinovsky in the centres, while an experimental selection in the back three sees Igor Klyuchnikov move to wing, Yury Kushnarev start at full-back, and Denis Simplikevich starts his first game for the national team on the right wing.
Starting line-up vs. Newport Gwent Dragons
15. Yury Kushnarev - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
14. Denis Simplikevich - Enisey-STM (Krasnoyarsk)
13. Sergey Trishin - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
12. Igor Galinovsky -Krasniy Yar (Krasnoyarsk)
11. Igor Klyuchnikov - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
10. Konstantin Rachkov - Stade Phoceen (France)
9. Andrey Bykanov - Slava-ShVSM (Moscow)
1. Vladimir Botvinnikov - Enisey-STM (Krasnoyarsk)
2. Valeriy Tsnobiladze - Novokuznetsk (Novokuznetsk)
3. Alexander Khrokin - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
4. Alexander Voytov - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
5. Denis Antonov - Slava-ShVSM (Moscow)
6. Kirill Kushnarev - VVA-Podmoskovye (Monino)
7. Andrey Garbuzov -Krasniy Yar (Krasnoyarsk)
8. Viatcheslav Grachev - Bizanos (France)
Substitutes from:
Evgeny Matveev, Alexey Travkin, Kirill Kopeshkin, Andrey Temnov, Artem Fatakhov, Alexander Yanyushkin, Sergey Sugrobov, Mikhail Babaev, Andrey Kuzin
