The Russian Rugby League Association took part in the Eighth Military Sports Forum in the heart of Moscow at the weekend, organising an under-12 competition under the walls of the Kremlin, in the iconic Red Square. Six teams - Vereya, Golovkovo, Threshers, Junior Dynamo, Arkhangelskoye and Nara – took part, with Vereya repeating their senior side’s domination of the local scene. Golovkovo placed second, followed by Threshers in third.

“Lenin himself could cheer for Rugby League from the balcony of his mausoleum!” said RARLC official Victor Sapozhnikov. His colleague, Dinamo RL chief Victor Kraev, organised the tournament.

“Our young players have shown that our beloved rugby league is still alive in Russia,” said Sapozhnikov, alluding to the sports ministry’s striking of the sport’s official status in 2010, and continuing in the spirit of the martial nature of the festival. “We must use every opportunity to organise and conduct competitions to help our sport to develop. I hope that we, like our grandparents [in the Second World War], can mobilize and overcome our problems.”

The winners were awarded medals by Soviet and Russian sporting legends including Deputy Chairman of Dinamo Moscow, V.U. Timoshin, a double Olympic, world and European champion and ex-world champion boxer Konstantin Tszyu's trainer, L.D. Goncharov.