Edinburgh can be sure of a warm welcome in Russia
EDINBURGH face a trip into the unknown this coming weekend when they head to Russia to face European Rugby Challenge Cup new boys Krasny Yar – and a man with 30 Tongan caps will be leading the hosts’ charge.
Edinburgh are being spared a trip to Krasnoyarsk, where the snow has already been falling, with the match on Saturday being played in the Fili Stadium in Moscow – but they can still expect some tough conditions.
The Krasny Yar skipper Vasily Artemyev, below, who learned his rugby at Blackrock College in Dublin and previously played for Northampton Saints, is their star man and has 74 Russian caps.
Tongan standoff Fangatapu Apikotoa is their playmaker and his experience will also be key to any sort of upset they are looking to cause. He earned his caps for Tonga between 2004 and 2014 and is now in his second stint at Krasny Yar having played all around the world, including Coventry in England. Ahead of the Edinburgh match the 34-year-old said: “You may ask why would a Tongan end up in Russia playing rugby, it may seem a bit unlikely, but when I got the chance to come here a couple of years ago for my first season I thought it was an exciting opportunity.
“It was somewhere new to go and play and it was in an area where they were trying to grow the game so I thought it would be good.
“Yes, for me it is a bit different than back home and getting used to snow and cold training conditions took a bit of time, but the guys here are all great and being in Europe has given us all a big boost.
“In the last few weeks in training the guys have really upped their efforts and everyone is pushing for places in the starting team for these big matches, we want to do Krasny Yar proud.
“We know that we will go into this match with Edinburgh as the underdogs, but we are determined to put in a good performance and make it difficult for them.”