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.
| Formerly | Soviet Rugby Championship Russian Superleague Rugby Premier League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Rugby union |
| Founded | 1936 1992 (reformed) 2004 (reformed) |
| First season | 1936 |
| Owner(s) | Russian Rugby Union |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Country | Russia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Enisei-STM (10th title) |
| Most titles | VVA-Podmoskovye Monino (17 titles) |
| International cup(s) | European Rugby Challenge Cup European Rugby Continental Shield Continental Club Rugby League |
| Official website | cps-rugby.ru |
History
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
Current Teams
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 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} John Molvihill |
Khimik Stadium | 5,266 | |
Champions
| 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
| 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
- Rugby union in Russia
External links
- Official website (in Russian)
- Russian rugby statistics (in Russian)