1990s The Russia Bears were formed in 1991 for a tour of two English teams, the
York Wasps and
Fulham RLFC. The Bears played their first overseas match in 1991 against the
French national team at the Stade Georges Lyvet,
Villeurbanne on Sunday, 27 October 1991. The Bears were beaten 26-6 by France. Later that year, the Bears toured
South Africa to play a three-match series against
South Africa. The following year, the team participated in the 1995
Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship.
2000s Russia gained affiliate member status with the
Rugby League International Federation in 2000 allowing them automatic qualification to the expanded
2000 Rugby League World Cup. Russia was drawn into a group with , , and , and were captained by
Sydney Roosters prop
Ian Rubin, who was born in
Odesa,
Soviet Union. Rubin was one of two
NRL experienced players in the world cup squad; the other being
Robert Campbell who had played for
Gold Coast Chargers. Russia lost all three group games, losing their opener to Fiji in
Barrow-in-Furness 38–12, before back to back defeats in
Kingston-upon-Hull to England and Australia, 76–4 and 110–4 respectively. The latter of these results is the largest defeat in test rugby league. In 2006, Russia were involved in Europe Round One, defeating
Netherlands national rugby league team and
Serbia national rugby league team to finish second and keep their World Cup dream alive. They then went through to Europe Round Two in Europe Pool Two with
Ireland and
Lebanon. Russia lost all 4 games against them and did not qualify on those grounds.
2010s In 2010, after a year out of competition, the Bears competed in the
Rugby League European Shield, topping the table after wins against Ukraine and Latvia. In 2011 Russia were involved in the
European qualifying group that featured Russia themselves,
Italy,
Serbia, and
Lebanon. They lost both of their games against Italy and Lebanon ultimately ending their dreams for a second world cup tournament. In 2012-2013, the Bears competed in the
Rugby League European Shield winning five games out of six to take the shield. Russia participated in the
qualification for the
2017 Rugby League World Cup. In the
final round of qualification, Russia took on Spain at Fili Stadium in Moscow, and Ireland in Bray, in a bid to qualify for their second World Cup appearance.
2020s After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the
International Rugby League and
European Rugby League banned Russia from all international rugby league competitions. ==Competitive Record==