Although tournaments such as the
Soviet Cup and the
Soviet Championship existed, rugby never became a major sport in the
USSR.
Rugby union was the more popular of the two rugby codes, however, as
rugby league only began being played following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Rugby football was played in the
Russian Empire as early as 1884; however, the first official match, played in Moscow, did not take place until 1923. Because of the
Russian Revolution, some Soviet/Russian players emigrated and/or ended up playing for foreign sides, a notable example being Prince
Alexander Obolensky (Александр Сергеевич Оболенский) who played for Oxford and
England in the 1930s – he was the scorer of 2 tries on his
England debut in their win over
New Zealand in January 1936. His noble birth precluded him from playing in his home country and his family had fled the country when he was only a year old. In 1935 the Moscow Championship was initiated, followed by the first Soviet Championship which took place in 1936. In 1949, rugby union was forbidden throughout the USSR during the "fight against
cosmopolitanism". Competition was resumed in 1957, and the Soviet Championship recommenced in 1966. In 1975, the Soviet national team played their first ever match. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet team began to improve their performances, often coming second to
France, or third to
Romania in the
FIRA tournament. The team were never given the opportunity to play a tier 1 nation where
test caps were awarded. The organisers of the
1987 Rugby World Cup had intended to invite the USSR as one of the participants. However, before the invitation could be made, the USSR refused to take part on political grounds, allegedly due to the continued IRB membership of South Africa. The first tournament was by invitation rather than qualification, and despite successes against teams such as
Italy and
Romania in the years leading up to the inaugural Cup, the USSR did not enter. The Soviet team did not attempt to qualify for the
1991 Rugby World Cup finals. They played their last game against Spain in the FIRA tournament in November 1991, shortly before the country's own dissolution. The USSR's successor was briefly the
Commonwealth of Independent States, after which the former constituent states formed their own national teams.
The FIRA Trophy 1974–1997 ==USSR tour to New Zealand==