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John Van Der Giessen
John van der Giessen (born May 6, 1982) is an American former rugby union player. He played lock for the USA Eagle XV side. John earned a captaincy role for the USA and represented the side in the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup. Van der Giessen played professional rugby in the English Premiership and French Top 14. John has since retired. Youth Van der Giessen was born in Jerome, Idaho. He first started playing rugby in September 2001. He had two training sessions and started his first match that weekend at the 25th Annual University of Idaho Alumni Tournament. The founder of U of I Rugby, Joe McGurkin, and a former U of I player and friend, Conrad Breithbach watched the match. Afterwards Mr. McGurkin told him he could go as far as he wanted in rugby if he stuck with it. He was a University of Idaho Rugby Captain from 2004–2005. He graduated from Idaho in 2004. International Van der Giessen was selected to come to the Rugby World Cup Training Camp and was named to the NA4 Hawks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russia National Rugby Union Team
The Russia national rugby union team (Russian: Сборная России по регби), nicknamed Medvedi (''The Bears''), represented Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year. Russia is seen as a Tier 2 union by World Rugby. The team's regular international competition was in the Rugby Europe Championship – often referred to as the Six Nations B. In addition, the team participated in World Rugby-run summer tournaments including the Nations Cup, the dormant Churchill Cup, and other international fixtures. Russia comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |