Russia head coach Nikolay Nerush has announced his team to play their opening match in Pool C against USA at Stadium Taranaki, New Plymouth on Thursday, 15 September. 

Led by captain and hooker Vladislav Korshunov, the lineup has only two changes from the team that lost 32-25 to the Eagles in June.

Meanwhile the USA has changed seven players from that game.

“At all the matches we’ve seen on the TV so far, we could feel that all the teams are here to win and this is very pleasant to know that all the teams are here for victory,” said Korshunov. “We would like to win as well.”

“This is the best team to challenge the USA,” added Russian team director Kingsley Jones. “There might be a few changes against Italy, but just for tactical reasons. We respect the US lineup from the start. In the warm up-games they have taken a lot of ball off the opposition team.”

Russia lineup to face the USA:

1. Sergey Popov
2. Vladislav Korshunov (c) 
3. Ivan Prishchepenko
4. Alexander Voytov
5. Denis Antonov
6. Artem Fatakhov
7. Andrey Garbuzov
8. Vyacheslav Grachev
9. Alexander Shakirov
10. Yury Kushnarev
11. Vladimir Ostroushko
12. Alexey Makovetskiy
13. Konstantin Rachkov
14. Vasily Artemyev
15. Igor Klyuchnikov

Replacements:

16. Valery Tsnobiladze
17. Vladmimir Botvinnikov
18. Alexander Khrokin
19. Adam Byrnes
20. Alexander Yanyushkin
21. Victor Gresev
22. Andrey Kuzin