When Kingsley Jones first met Denis Simplikevich last spring he was blown away by his size and speed. So impressed was Russia’s recently appointed director of Rugby that he selected the powerful winger for the Junior World Rugby Trophy in Georgia. A few months later the Siberian-born player capped his remarkable rise from relative obscurity to play – and score – for the Bears in Rugby World Cup 2011.
“I joined in a touch rugby game at one of our training camps last year for a bit of fun and I got to experience Denis’s ability at first hand,” Jones said.
“He ran past me at such speed that the wind nearly blew me over. He was immediately on my radar after that.”
Simplikevich’s try-scoring debut appearance against Ireland in New Zealand saw him become the first Russian player to graduate from Junior World Rugby Trophy level to the senior international stage. But having waited the longest of any competing JWRT nation to see an Under 20 player make the ultimate breakthrough, Russia now has two graduates, with the prospect of more to come.
Other Russian players at JWRT will surely make the step up
Scrum-half German Godlyuk played in JWRT 2011 as an 18-year-old and is part of the current squad competing in this year’s event in Salt Lake City, USA. But between tournaments the talented Slava Moscow player also won his first senior cap, coming off the bench for the final quarter of the European Nations Cup Division 1A match against Ukraine in Sotchi on March 10, 2012.
An experimental line up, that was minus the Bears’ UK-based stars and featured four other debutants, comfortably won 38-19. Simplikevich maintained his record of a try a game in his fourth Test, and Godlyuk, who was delighted at making the step up to senior international rugby, admits the winger is someone for all other young Russian rugby players to look up to.
“Denis is a role model for all young players in Russia because he played for the national team at such a young age and with so much success. He is a great example for every young player in Russia because they want to be like him,” Godlyuk said.
“For me it felt unbelievable to be called up by the senior team and I was so happy to make my debut against Ukraine. It is always an honour to represent your country at whatever level.”
Godlyuk aims to play at RWC 2015
A late starter in rugby terms, Godlyuk has made rapid strides since swapping a round ball for an oval one.
“I played soccer at an early age, but just with friends and not to any great standard. I was introduced to rugby at the age of 11, when a coach came over to my school and suggested we try it out.”
“It took me two to three years to catch up with other players who had been playing longer than me. But I really enjoyed it and eventually I became captain of my school team.”
Having gone from school captain to capped international in just five years, Godlyuk continues to set his sights higher and higher.
“My goal would be to one day play club rugby in France or the UK and then ultimately go and play in RWC 2015. But I need to keep working hard and improve with every game if I am to achieve my goals. Success will only come through hard work,” he said.
Chance to watch the stars of tomorrow, today
The players competing at the JWRT – and its sister tournament, the JWC – are the stars of tomorrow. Approaching 90 players who first came to the attention of an international audience at JWRT since its inception in 2008 have gone to represent their countries at full senior Test level and, undoubtedly, this year’s crop will be no exception.
A heavy defeat to Chile in the opening game of JWRT 2012 might suggest a fallow period of Russian graduates lies ahead.
However big things are expected of new fly-half Ilya Zakharov and prop Anton Rubanik, both players with stars in their eyes already. They attend Moscow Aviation Institute as trainee engineers working on the construction of spacecraft and jet fighters. JWRT 2012 is also being billed as a big tournament for captain and full-back Alexey Golov.
