Is Russia gearing up for the 2011 Rugby World Cup?
In the history of the Rugby World Cup (RWC), Russia has been mentioned only in whispers of the qualifying stages. With a recent, hard-fought win over Romania in the European Nations Cup (ENC or ‘Six Nations B’) and a world ranking of 16, Russia may finally have what it takes to squeeze past Romania and qualify for the first time for the Rugby World Cup in 2011.
Russia are now aligned to play Georgia in a show-down for European Nations Cup dominance. Georgia are likely heavy favorites, as they typically are at the RWC, but a strong showing by the Russians on the heels of 3 consecutive ENC wins could well make the 2011 RWC European qualifiers very interesting. Twelve of the 20 teams for the 2011 championship automatically qualified based on their performance at the 2007 RWC. Two and possibly 3 more European teams will qualify for the 2011 RWC.
