Wholesale changes for Russia
Friday 23 September 2011 08:05, UK
Russia will hand a debut to rising star Denis Simplikevich in Sunday's clash with Ireland in Rotorua.
Debut for winger Simplikevich
Russia will hand a debut to rising star Denis Simplikevich in Sunday's clash with Ireland in Rotorua. The inclusion of the 20-year-old winger, who impressed at the 2010 and 2011 Junior World Rugby Trophy, is one of nine changes made following the 53-17 thumping by Italy. Valery Tsnobiladze and Alexander Khrokin will make their first RWC starts, while Sergey Popov joins them in the front-row. Lock Denis Antonov and flanker Artem Fatakhov also come into the pack, with hooker and captain Vladislav Korshunov rested. In the backs, scrum-half Alexander Yanyushkin, the stand-in skipper, and centre Sergey Trishin join Simplikevich in the starting XV, with Vasily Artemyev switching to full-back. Russia: 15 Vasily Artemyev, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Andrey Kuzin, 12 Sergey Trishin, 11 Vladimir Ostroushko, 10 Konstantin Rachkov, 9 Alexander Yanyushkin (captain), 8 Victor Gresev, 7 Andrey Garbuzov, 6 Artem Fatakhov, 5 Adam Byrnes, 4 Denis Antonov, 3 Alexander Khrokin, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Sergey Popov.Replacements: 16 Evgeny Matveev,17 Ivan Prishchepenko, 18 Alexey Travkin, 19 Alexander Voytov, 20 Andrey Bykanov, 21 Mikhail Sidorov, 22 Mikhail Babaev.
