The explosion of interest in rugby in Russia after the country’s debut World Cup performance last year has caused the country’s rugby officials to consider creating a third division, the Russian Rugby Union said Friday.
Russia’s top-tier Professional Rugby League expanded to 16 teams for 2012, with some leading clubs fielding players from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
"With the current boom in Russian domestic rugby, the league system could expand to a third tier - meetings to be held soon, watch this space," the union wrote on its official Twitter feed.
Former Sale Sharks coach Kingsley Jones remained as Russia coach after the World Cup in the fall, and is now preparing the team for IRB Nations Cup games against Italy A, Uruguay and Argentina A next week.
Moscow will also host the World Cup Sevens in 2013.
