Kazan Arrows, sometimes called Strela Kazan, are a rugby league and rugby union club from Kazan, Tatarstan in Russia. They were formed in 1989 and currently play in the Russian Championship, the top-tier of rugby league in Russia. Since late 2009 they have decided to run their senior team as a rugby union team
Russian Championship
They won their first piece of silverware in 1993, and from 1995 through to 1999 became the best club in Russia having won the Russian Championship in each of those years. In 2000 they had a bad season but returned in 2001 to retrieve their trophy. But they then lost it again in 2002, which started the dominance of the Moscow teams in the competition.
Playing In England
In 1998 they went on tour round Great Britain and were hosted by the London Skolars. During the tour they also played the Rugby League ConferenceRunners UpLeicester Phoenix at Saffron Lane. They then hosted the Skolars in 1999. In 2002 the club took part in 'The Damart Russian Tour', a tour of England with Locomotive Moscow. The team got the chance to play the Bradford Bulls in front of 2,000 at Odsal. They lost 86-14, conceding 15 tries, but were pleased with the match, the development and the experience. Also in 2002, and in 2003 they competed in the York International 9s tournament. They were beaten by French team Lézignan Sangliers in 2002, having won their quarter final match.
The team frequently make an appearance in the Rugby League Challenge Cup and alongside fellow Russian club Locomotive Moscow, they became the first Russian clubs to take part in the competition in 2001. In 2005 they lost 62-14 against the Keighley Cougars in Round 3 of the competition. In 2007 they were beaten by Thornhill Trojans 38-20 in Round 2.
Tatarstan Students
The club organised a student team called the Tatarstan Students to represent Russia in the Student Padua Cup taking place in Padua, Italy. In their first match they beat the Italy Students 16-12. But they were narrowly beaten by the Scotland Students 23-18, despite being 15-0 up in the first 15 minutes. Eventually the students finished second out of the three teams.
Kazan Players who represented Russian National Team in 2008
The advent of rugby sevens in the Olympics caused the Kazan Arrows to change their senior squad to play rugby union. For the time being they will still run a junior rugby league team. A Russian Ministry of Sports order number 21 dated January 20, 2010 expelled the Rugby League from the State Register of Sports of Russia. In February a new president of the RRLF was elected, Alexander Eremin. Mr Eremin, the board members and employees of the RRLF are currently investigating the potential for the continuation of Rugby League in Russia with various government, civic and sports organizations, in particular the ministry of Sports and Rugby Union of Russia
