Russian Rugby Championship

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.

Pari - Russian Rugby Championship
FormerlySoviet Rugby Championship
Russian Superleague
Rugby Premier League
SportRugby union
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936)
1992; 32 years ago (1992)
(reformed)
2004; 20 years ago (2004)
(reformed)
First season1936
Owner(s)Russian Rugby Union
No. of teams9
CountryRussia
Most recent
champion(s)
Enisei-STM (10th title)
Most titlesVVA-Podmoskovye Monino (17 titles)
International cup(s)European Rugby Challenge Cup
European Rugby Continental Shield
Continental Club Rugby League
Official websitecps-rugby.ru

History

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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

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Moscow
 
Krasnoyarsk
Locations of the 2020–21 Liga Stavok - Russian Rugby Championship

Current Teams

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

Team Manager Captain Stadium Capacity
Enisei-STM   Aleksandr Pervukhin   Uldis Saulīte Avangard Stadium
Central Stadium
2,463
15,000
Krasny Yar   Igor Nikolaychuk   Victor Arkhip Krasny Yar Stadium
Central Stadium
3,600
15,000
Slava   Levan Tsabadze   Denis Antonov Slava Stadium 1,300
VVA   Nikolay Nerush   German Davydov Gagarin Air Force Academy Stadium 1,500
Metallurg   Vyacheslav Shalunov   Anton Sychev Metallurg Stadium 10,000
Lokomotiv   Aleksandr Yanyushkin   Sergey Yanyushkin Pervomaysky Stadium 5,182
Strela   JP Nel   Magomed Davudov Tulpar Stadium
Central Stadium
3,275
25,400
Dinamo   Rianne van Straten   Aleksandr Zorin Slava Stadium 1,300
Khimik   John Molvihill Khimik Stadium 5,266

Champions

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Team Number of Titles
VVA 17
Krasny Yar 12
Enisei-STM 12
Fili Moscow 5
Dynamo Moscow 3
RC AIA Kutaisi 3
MVTU 2
Slava Moscow 2
RC Aviator Kiev 1
RC Lokomotiv Moscow 1
Lokomotiv Penza 1

Winners by year

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Progress of clubs in the Russian Rugby Championship (1992-2018)
Year Champion Runner-up
Soviet Championship
1936 Dynamo Moscow VTsIK School Moscow
1937 Season Not Played
1938 Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow
1939 Dynamo Moscow Spartak Moscow
1940-1965 Seasons Not Played
1966 MVTU Dynamo Tbilisi
1968 MVTU Dynamo Moscow
1969 VVA Fili Moscow
1970 Fili Moscow MAI Moscow
1971 VVA MAI Moscow
1972 Fili Moscow VVA
1973 Fili Moscow Burevestnik Leningrad
1974 Fili Moscow KIIGA Kiev
1975 Fili Moscow KIIGA Kiev
1976 VVA Slava Moscow
1977 VVA Slava Moscow
1978 RC Aviator Kiev Fili Moscow
1979 Slava Moscow Fili Moscow
1980 VVA RC Lokomotiv Moscow
1981 VVA RC Aviator Kiev
1982 Slava Moscow VVA
1983 RC Lokomotiv Moscow Fili Moscow
1984 VVA RC AIA Kutaisi
1985 VVA Slava Moscow
1986 VVA Slava Moscow
1987 RC AIA Kutaisi VVA
1988 RC AIA Kutaisi Krasny Yar
1989 RC AIA Kutaisi VVA
1990 Krasny Yar VVA
1991 Krasny Yar SKA Alma Ata
Russian Superleague
1992 Krasny Yar VVA
1993 VVA Krasny Yar
1994 Krasny Yar VVA
1995 Krasny Yar West Star Kaliningrad
1996 Krasny Yar RC Penza
1997 Krasny Yar RC Penza
1998 Krasny Yar VVA
1999 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2000 Krasny Yar Enisei-STM
2001 Krasny Yar Enisei-STM
2002 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2003 VVA Enisei-STM
2004 VVA Enisei-STM
Russian Professional Rugby League
2005 Enisei-STM VVA
2006 VVA Krasny Yar
2007 VVA Enisei-STM
2008 VVA Slava Moscow
2009 VVA Enisei-STM
2010 VVA Enisei-STM
2011 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2012 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2013 Krasny Yar Enisei-STM
2014 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2015 Krasny Yar Enisei-STM
2016 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2017 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2018 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2019 Enisei-STM Krasny Yar
2020-21 Enisei-STM Lokomotiv
2021-22 Enisei-STM Lokomotiv
2022-23 Lokomotiv Enisei-STM


See also

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