Russian Rugby Championship Explained

Pari - Russian Rugby Championship
Formerly:Soviet Rugby Championship
Russian Superleague
Rugby Premier League
Sport:Rugby union
Founded:

(reformed)

(reformed)
Owner:Russian Rugby Union
Inaugural:1936
Teams:9
Country:Russia
Confed Cup:European Rugby Challenge Cup
European Rugby Continental Shield
Continental Club Rugby League
Champion:Enisei-STM (10th title)
Most Champs:VVA-Podmoskovye Monino (17 titles)
Website:cps-rugby.ru

The Russian Rugby Championship, officially known as the Pari - Russian Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons (Russian: Пари - Чемпионат России по регби), is Russia's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Russian Rugby Championship is run by Russian Rugby Union and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019-2020 season.

History

The founding of the league coincided with a period of rapid change for Russian rugby. The first Russian rugby championship, which succeeded the Soviet Rugby Championship, was played in 1992, under the name Russian Superleague. The league kept this name until 2004, when the competition was then rebranded as the Rugby Premier League.

In 2007, Yug-Krasnodar were admitted to the competition, increasing the number of teams in the league to eight.

Just one year later, in 2008, a further six teams from several of the lower division competitions were admitted into the Rugby Premier League. This increased the total number of teams again, to fourteen teams. The fourteen teams were split into three conferences, based on geography, in that season. One thing to note was that many of the elevated clubs geographically were semi-professional or even amateur in nature, which lead to a lack of competitive balance.

2010 saw another change of format to the Rugby Premier League where the East-West divide was removed, culminating in the formation of a 'Super Group'. This meant that VVA-Podmoskovye Monino, Krasny Yar, Enisey-STM, Slava Moscow, RC Novokuznetsk and Imperia-Dynamo as well as Fili Moscow and Spartak GM were scheduled to play each other in a straight home-and-away league format.

Current Teams

Current Teams

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality

TeamManagerCaptainStadiumCapacity
Enisei-STM Aleksandr Pervukhin Uldis SaulīteAvangard Stadium
Central Stadium
2,463
15,000
Krasny Yar Igor Nikolaychuk Victor ArkhipKrasny Yar Stadium
Central Stadium
3,600
15,000
Slava Levan Tsabadze Denis AntonovSlava Stadium1,300
VVA Nikolay Nerush German DavydovGagarin Air Force Academy Stadium1,500
Metallurg Vyacheslav Shalunov Anton SychevMetallurg Stadium10,000
Lokomotiv Aleksandr Yanyushkin Sergey YanyushkinPervomaysky Stadium5,182
Strela JP Nel Magomed DavudovTulpar Stadium
Central Stadium
3,275
25,400
Dinamo Rianne van Straten Aleksandr ZorinSlava Stadium1,300
Khimik John MolvihillKhimik Stadium5,266

Champions

width=20%Teamwidth=10%Number of Titles
VVA17
Krasny Yar12
Enisei-STM12
Fili Moscow5
Dynamo Moscow3
RC AIA Kutaisi3
MVTU2
Slava Moscow2
RC Aviator Kiev1
RC Lokomotiv Moscow1
Lokomotiv Penza1

Winners by year

width=6%Yearwidth=15%Championwidth=15%Runner-up
Soviet Championship
1936Dynamo MoscowVTsIK School Moscow
1937 Season Not Played
1938Dynamo MoscowSpartak Moscow
1939Dynamo MoscowSpartak Moscow
1940-1965 Seasons Not Played
1966MVTUDynamo Tbilisi
1968MVTUDynamo Moscow
1969VVAFili Moscow
1970Fili MoscowMAI Moscow
1971VVAMAI Moscow
1972Fili MoscowVVA
1973Fili MoscowBurevestnik Leningrad
1974Fili MoscowKIIGA Kiev
1975Fili MoscowKIIGA Kiev
1976VVASlava Moscow
1977VVASlava Moscow
1978RC Aviator KievFili Moscow
1979Slava MoscowFili Moscow
1980VVARC Lokomotiv Moscow
1981VVARC Aviator Kiev
1982Slava MoscowVVA
1983RC Lokomotiv MoscowFili Moscow
1984VVARC AIA Kutaisi
1985VVASlava Moscow
1986VVASlava Moscow
1987RC AIA KutaisiVVA
1988RC AIA KutaisiKrasny Yar
1989RC AIA KutaisiVVA
1990Krasny YarVVA
1991Krasny YarSKA Alma Ata
Russian Superleague
1992Krasny YarVVA
1993VVAKrasny Yar
1994Krasny YarVVA
1995Krasny YarWest Star Kaliningrad
1996Krasny YarRC Penza
1997Krasny YarRC Penza
1998Krasny YarVVA
1999Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2000Krasny YarEnisei-STM
2001Krasny YarEnisei-STM
2002Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2003VVAEnisei-STM
2004VVAEnisei-STM
Russian Professional Rugby League
2005Enisei-STMVVA
2006VVAKrasny Yar
2007VVAEnisei-STM
2008VVASlava Moscow
2009VVAEnisei-STM
2010VVAEnisei-STM
2011Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2012Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2013Krasny YarEnisei-STM
2014Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2015Krasny YarEnisei-STM
2016Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2017Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2018Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2019Enisei-STMKrasny Yar
2020-21Enisei-STMLokomotiv
2021-22Enisei-STMLokomotiv
2022-23LokomotivEnisei-STM


See also

External links