Russian rugby team pipped by French
Published 06 September, 2008, 15:49
The Russian national rugby team has lost out narrowly to a French amateur side in a thorough work-out before their next competitive match in the European Cup of Nations. The friendly match was seen as an opportunity to try out fringe members of the squad, with Head Coach Nikolay Nerush giving debuts to five players in the starting line-up.
The side's inexperience wasn’t evident early in the game, as the Russians got off to the better start. Evgeny Matveev got the first try of the match after six minutes.
The French didn't wait long to respond and Clement Rivier put them in front 16 minutes into the game. Oleg Kobzev restored Russia's lead after a well worked move, but the visitors cut the gap to 3 points by the half-time break.
Russia then showed great determination in the beginning of the second half. Sergey Sergeev intercepted the ball brilliantly and made his way to the try-line to increase his side's lead to 8 points.
France were not finished though. They took advantage of their physical supremacy and on 66 minutes added another try, levelling the score at 21 points all.
The Russians were down by three points five minutes from time, but Oleg Kobzev got his second try of the night and celebrated in style.
But Russia's inexperience showed in the end, when they conceded a try in the dying moments. France missed the conversion, but it didn't matter, as Russia were unable to reply.
Russia's head coach, however, wasn't concerned with the disappointing loss.
“We had a new line-up which had never played together before. Most of our players are newcomers, the task was to watch them in action. I think the game was interesting and active,” Nerush said.
It was a single point loss for Russia – 29-28. But more importantly, they will take this vital experience into their next European Cup of Nations game against Spain on November 8, as Russia look to protect their place at the top of the standings.
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