FUKUROI CITY, Wednesday: Coping with the pace of tier one nations had been most evident for Russia’s players at the World Cup, but the fact they had little more than 12 months to get ready for the tournament was a testament to the side, coach Lyn Jones said on Wednesday.
Russia ended their second World Cup tournament with a 61-0 loss to Scotland at Shizuoka Stadium, which kept the Scots hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals alive until their final match against Japan on Sunday.
The Bears only made the tournament after Romania, Belgium and Spain had points stripped for fielding ineligible players in qualifying.
“For Russia it’s been a huge success,” Jones said. “To have late qualification for the tournament and the way we have prepared and got ready for supersonic rugby at tier one level is all credit to our players.
“Tier one rugby is not another level it’s another sport for tier two teams.
“Fast, furious, error free and the referee never blows the whistle. It was obviously going to be a challenge for us.
“If we’d played this tournament 12 months ago we would have been blown out of the water. – Agencies
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