Kazan getting ready to host rugby Europe women’s sevens grand prix series

In 2015, the first leg of the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Grand Prix Series was held for the first time at the Tulpar Stadium, Kazan. Russia emerged victorious in the leg after beating France in the tightly-contested final.

The Kazan leg will be a final test for the Russian women’s national rugby sevens team in the lead-up to the tournament in Dublin (IRL) where they will compete for the last berth into the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (BRA). 12 national squads will clash for the European title: Russia, Great Britain-1, Great Britain-2, France, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Finland, Netherlands, Ukraine. Ireland and Spain are Team Russia’s major rivals in the hunt for the Olympic qualification spot. The Russian national team will play in Group B against Ireland, Italy and Belgium.

The Russian national team is one of the strongest teams in the world. The Russians claimed the European crown twice (2013, 2014), failing to defend the title only in 2015 when they were edged out in second place by Team France. At the Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Moscow in 2013, the Russian squad led by Pavel Baranovsky finished seventh. In 2015, at the legs of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens in Langford (CAN) and Dubai (UAE), the Russians played in the finals but finished just a step away from victory. During the Dubai leg in December 2015, for the first time ever the Pavel Baranovsky squad managed to defeat the defending World Cup champion, New Zealand, by the overwhelming score, 33-7. Moreover, in Dubai, the Russian squad also won six matches in a row within one tournament.

The Russian women’s national rugby sevens team has been garnering rugby experts and fans’ attention worldwide for a long time. For instance, the team captain, Nadezhda Kudinova, was nominated for the Women’s Sevens Player of the Year award in 2015, and during the Dubai leg of the Grand Prix Series in December 2015, Nadezhda was crowned the best player of the tournament. At different times, other players of the Russian national team were named in the Grand Prix Series dream team: Bayzat Khamidova, Marina Petrova and Alyona Mikhaltseva.