Russia name Australian lock Byrnes in squad

WORLD CUP new boys Russia have named Australian lock Adam Byrnes in their 30-man squad.

Coach Nikolai Nerush included Byrnes, who plays for the Melbourne Rebels and has Russian ancestry, in the squad for the tournament in New Zealand after the 30-year-old expressed his desire to represent his adopted country.

“Both grandparents on my mother’s side are Russian, and I was baptised in a Russian Orthodox church, so I have strong connections to my Russian heritage,” Byrnes said earlier this year.

“Language was easy as a kid, my mum spoke to me in Russian and I spoke it fluently as a child. But over time that has waned a bit as English took over,” he added.

“I’ll have to do a bit of a crash course in numbers and basic things, but hopefully I can pick it all up again.”

Despite his Russian heritage, Byrnes had to convince Russia’s coaching staff that he would be able to blend in with his new team-mates on this month’s two-week tour of Britain.

“We’ll see if he really wants to play for Russia and gets along with the rest of the team before we make a final decision,” Nerush said this month. “We don’t want to create any animosity in the team.”

Winger Vasili Artemyev, who earlier this year became the first Russian to join an English Premiership side when he signed a two-year contract with Northampton Saints, also made the cut.

Russia, who are in Pool C alongside Australia, Italy, Ireland and the United States, begin their campaign against the Americans in New Plymouth on Sept. 15.

RUSSIA: Backs: V Artemyev, M Babayev, A Bykanov, I Galinovsky, I Klyuchnikov, Y Kushnarev, A Kuzin, A Makovetsky, V Ostroushko, K Rachkov, A Shakirov, D Simplikevich, A Yanyushkin.

Forwards: D Antonov, V Botvinnikov, A Byrnes, A Fatakhov, A Garbuzov, V Grachev, V Gresev, A Khrokin, V Korshunov, Y Matveyev, A Ostrikov, S Popov, I Prishchepenko, M Sidorov, A Travkin, V Tsnobiladze, A Voitov.