Stas and Oleg were exchanged students in Helena during my final season with the All Blues.  They were Kazaks, but culturally acted like Russians.

 These two athletes loved the game, and loved the parties, but more than anything, they loved the  vodka. I remember when I  first started drinking with them, the taught me the Russian Pickle Trick. I
hated vodka....it made me  sick every time I did a  shot, so after each shot, I  would "chase" it with a 1/2  can of beer. Sooner than  later, they (a group of  about 8 other Russians) would make fun of me.  Then they taught me how
it works.

       "John, you see, 90% of
       what you taste is what you
       smell. If you smell pickle,
       you will taste pickle." 

So they showed me the technique of smelling the pickle, doing the shot, smelling the pickle and eating the pickle. It works and I now love vodka more than any hard liquour.

Before their first US game, I asked how they would do. Oleg responded by saying, "I will score 2 maybe 3 trys today." He scored 3. Stas was just as happy to score as Oleg, til we explained that he would have to get naked and zulu.  He knocked on 5 times in the try zone. He later scored, but we had to   promise him we would not make him zulu.

This club in Russia had quite a few babes on the team.  Well one that caught my eye anyways.  And since there are only a hand ful of Russian Sites I can find (this being one of them), I have included them.  Say hello to Masha!

Another Club, Rostov-on-Don Rugby Club (seen in the tight 5 photo at the top) is a youth side in Central Russia. 

Finally, one last site that can be reached is the Moscow Dragons RFC.  Hosted by Idiot Brother #20 (acting as President of the club), Michael Bolan is an Irishman living in Moscow.  Not sure what he does, but something tells me he isn't with the Irish Espionage Agency.  An interesting link to a story on his page:  Click here!

The links to these sites are included in the links page in the right column.  Also see the Russian Rugby Union site located there as well. 

Za Mir my comrades!