RC Lokomotiv Moscow

RC Lokomotiv Moscow is a professional Russian rugby football club based in Moscow, which from 2010 will field teams in both rugby league and rugby union. The club is one of the oldest in Russia. Originally a club for those who worked on the railways, they participated in the first USSR rugby union championship in 1937. Lokomotiv were Soviet Championship winners in 1983. During the existence of the USSR, RC Lokomotiv Moscow club was a part of the Lokomotiv Voluntary Sports Society.

RC Lokomotiv Moscow
Club information
Full nameRugby Club Lokomotiv Moscow
Nickname(s)Lokomotiv
Founded1937
Current details
Ground(s)
CEORussia Yevgeny Klebanov
CoachRussia Igor Ovchinnikov
CompetitionRussian Championship
20061st

In 1991, following York City Knights and Fulham's tour to the country, the club switched from rugby union to rugby league, owing mostly to rugby union's amateur status at the time, and the desire by players to be paid. Lokomotiv have gone on to dominate Russian rugby league. They have won seven Championships, including league and cup doubles in 2002–2005. Twelve players from the club were in the Russian national team in 2005.

Lokomotiv had their best season ever in 2005, winning the league and cup double in Russia, winning 21 out of 22 matches and scoring 1,560 points in the process. However, they have not yet transferred this success over to the Rugby League Challenge Cup. In their three previous games in this competition, they have failed to register a win.

In 2009 the club announced its intention to play rugby union in addition to rugby league from the 2010 season onwards, fielding their junior side in rugby league still and thereby partially reversing the club's 1991 switch from rugby union to rugby league. The decision to return to rugby union was primarily due to the desire of the Lokomotiv club to compete in the Russian rugby union sevens championship following the IOC's October 2009 decision to readmit rugby union as an Olympic sport in its seven-a-side format and the unwillingness of the Rugby Union of Russia to admit the Lokomotiv club to play in its rugby union sevens competition without also committing to the full 15-a-side version of rugby union.[1] [2]

2009 squad
No. Position Player
1 Russia FB Roman Firsov
2 Russia WG Dmitri Ainetdinov
3 Russia CE Igor Chuprin
4 Russia CE Sergey Dobrinin
5 Russia WG Valentin Baskakov
6 Russia FE Viktor Nechaev
7 Russia HB Denis Korolyov
8 Russia PR Andrey Koltikhov
9 Russia HK Roman Ovchinnikov
10 Russia PR Alexandr Lysenkov
11 Russia SR Andrey Dumalkin
12 Russia SR Oleg Zhukov
13 Russia LK Nikolay Zagoskin
14 Russia PR Georgy Vinogradov
15 Russia HK Igor Mokryakov
16 Russia PR Andrey Goryachev
17 Russia SR Andrey Medvedev
No. Position Player
18 Russia FE Alexsei Volkov
19 Russia LK Yan Gvozdev
20 Russia HK Artyom Grigoryan
21 Russia FB Vladimir Krylov
22 Russia FE Denis Meshkov
23 Russia SR Alexsey Bogdanov
24 Russia CE Andrey Varyachev
25 Russia WG Robert Ilyasov
26 Russia LK Vladimir Odnosumov
27 Russia FE Andrey Zdobnikov
28 Russia WG Vadim Fedchuk
29 Russia SR Vitaly Gusev
30 Russia HB Artem Zelenin
31 Russia FB Alexsei Ruban
32 Russia HB Igor Gavrilin
33 Russia PR Anton Timonin

Notable international players

Honours
  • Russian Championship: 9
1983†, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
  • Russian Cup: 12
1978†, 1986†, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

†Rugby union honours

See also

Notes
  1. "Olympic Sevens claims its first league victim". Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  2. ""Локо" ждет Олимпиаду?". Retrieved 11 December 2009.
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