The VVA-Podmoskovye is a Russian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team playing in the Professional Rugby League. The team plays at Gagarin Air Force Academy stadium in Monino, a garrison town just outside Moscow. VVA-Podmoskovye have strong links to the air force and also supplied the bulk of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, with which they shared a head coach, Nikolai Nerush. The team had ambitious plans for the future - it lobbied hard for inclusion in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

and was close to completing a 12,500-seat purpose-built rugby stadium. VVA-Podmoskovye have won the title eight times, in 1993, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. March 2011 saw two stars depart for

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

clubs, with Moldovan international Vadim Cobîlaş joining former Russia coach Steve Diamond at

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

and Russian international Vasily Artemiev joining Northampton Saints.

Honours

* USSR/Russian Championship (17): 1969, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. * USSR/Russian Cup (13): 1976, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010.

Current squad

2019

Former players now in a professional overseas league

Union Bordeaux Bègles Union Bordeaux Bègles (; oc, Union Bordèu Begla) is a French rugby union team playing in the Top 14, the first level of the country's professional league system. They earned their Top 14 place by winning the promotion playoffs that followed ...

-> Northampton Saints

International honours

Karolis Navickas Karolis Navickas (born 9 April 1990 in Šiauliai, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian rugby union player currently playing for US Bressane in French Rugby Pro D2. Early career Navickas, known as "Bebras" (Beaver) in his home country, has already been in ...

* Alexander Khrokin * Alexei Travkin * Vladislav Korshunov * Artem Fatakhov * Alexander Voytov * Evegeny Matveev *

Victor Gresev Victor Andreevitch Gresev (russian: Виктор Андреевич Гресев) (born Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, 31 March 1986) is a Russian rugby union player who plays as a number eight. He played for Slava Moscow (2006-2008), and for ...

* Alexander Shakirov *

Alexander Yanyushkin Alexander Yanyushkin (russian: Александр Янюшкин; born 30 October 1982 in Penza) is a Russian rugby union coach and former player, he is the head coach of the Lokomotiv Penza and Russia 7s. He played for VVA-Podmoskovye Monino, i ...

Mikhail Babaev Mikhail Babaev (born Moscow, 19 January 1986) is a Russian rugby union player. He plays as a wing and as a centre. Babaev plays for VVA-Podmoskovye Monino, known as VVA Saracens, since 2003, in Russia. He has 57 caps for Russia, since 2006, with ...

* Sergey Trishin * Vasily Artemiev * Igor Klyuchnikov *

Andrey Kuzin Andrey Vyacheslavovich Kuzin (born Moscow, 29 October 1978) is a former Russian rugby union player and a current coach. He played as wing and as a centre. He played for VVA-Podmoskovye Monino, finishing his career in 2011/12. He had 78 caps for ...

References

External links

* http://www.heavensgame.com/russian-pro-league/russian-league-expands-for-2010 {{Professional Rugby League Russian rugby union teams Sport in Moscow Oblast Saracens Global Network Professional Rugby League teams