ASIA 5 NATIONS RUGBY: Arabian Gulf with Tough Task

24.04.2010
Arabian Gulf v Kazakhstan in Almaty (WCQ Asia R2; Asia5Nations)

Venue: Students Stadium

Referee:

Preview
The Arabian Gulf look to be taking only nineteen players to Kazakhstan. The Gulf play their first match after a year back in Division 1. I would expect Kazakhstan to bee too strong for the visitors

Previous Encounters
24.05.2008 Kazakhstan 56-27 in Taldykorgan (Asia5Nations)
11.05.2007 Kazakhstan 49-9 in Doha (Asia Nations Div.2)
30.10.2004 Kazakhstan 19-9 in Hong Kong (19th Asia Championship, Pool B, Playoff)
09.04.2004 Arabian Gulf 14-13 in Doha (Friendly)
26.04.2001 Arabian Gulf 66-22 in Bahrain (Asia Bowl)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Asia Table-Kazakhstan 2nd, Arabian Gulf 5th

Prediction: Kazakhstan by 25 points.

Teams

Kazakhstan Squad

Full back
Maxim Lifontov (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 30.12.1986, Age 23

Wingers
Sergey Konev (CSKA Almaty) 06.10.1987, Age 22
Yevgeniy Romanov (CSKA Almaty) 12.05.1987, Age 22

Centres
Ildar Abdrazakov (Almaty RFC) 11.09.1987, Age 22
Denis Cherkashin (Almaty RFC) 06.01.1979, Age 31
Alexandr Zakharov (Almaty RFC) 17.09.1986, Age 23

Fly-half
Daulet Akymbekov (CSKA Almaty) 06.04.1988, Age 22
Sergey Harlov (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 26.08.1983, Age 26

Scrum-halves
Akhmetzhan Baratov (Almaty RFC) 15.12.1985, Age 24
Oleg Gusel’nikov (Almaty RFC) 25.04.1989, Age 21

No. 8
Timur Mashurov, Capt.), (Almaty RFC) 19.04.1981, Age 29

Flankers
Ilya Poplavskiy(Almaty RFC) 01.01.1985, Age 25
Anton Rudoy (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 21.02.1983, Age 27
Yevgeniy Shekurov (Almaty RFC) 28.11.1978, Age 31
Roman Sorokodzyuba (Almaty RFC) 19.12.1988, Age 21
Serik Zhanseitov (CSKA Almaty) 08.07.1981, Age 28

Locks
Grigoriy Ivanchenko (Almaty RFC) 24.03.1985, Age 25

Props
Azat Abishev (Almaty RFC) 19.11.1981, Age 28
Evgeniy Antonov (Almaty RFC) 03.05.1974, Age 35
Mikhail Bzhitskih (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 29.12.1986, Age 22
Vladimir Chernykh (Almaty RFC) 12.08.1973, Age 36

Hooker
Sergey Menshikov (Almaty RFC) 07.12.1990, Age 19

Head Coach: Valeriy Popov

Special thanks to Aida Tobykbayeva, National Team Manager, Kazakhstan Rugby Union

Arabian Gulf
15 James Love (Hartpury College, England)
14 Ross Stapleton (Bahrain RFC)
13 Trent Eastgate (Dubai Dragons)
12 Taif Al Delamie (Lansdowne FC, Ireland)
11 Sean Hurley (Dubai Dragons)
10 Duncan Murray (Dubai Hurricanes)
9 John MacDonald (Cardiff University, Wales)
8 David Clark (Dubai Exiles)
7 Edward LePine-Williams (Dubai Dragons)
6 Karl Sutcliffe (Bahrain RFC)
5 Steven Little (Dubai Dragons)
4 Michael Cox Hill, Capt.) (Dubai Exiles)
3 Mark Gathercole (Dubai Exiles)
2 Daniel Heal (Dubai Dragons)
1 Michael Riley (Dubai Exiles)
Replacements
16 Rory Power (Bahrain RFC)
17 Nicholas Croker (Doha RFC)
18 Lindsay Fitzgerald (Doha RFC)
19 Jason Voyce (Muscat RFC)
Head Coach: Bruce Birtwistle

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