Russia’s SA coaches Dick Muir, Grant Bashford cold Turkey after World Rugby ban

Durban — Former Sharks coaches Dick Muir and Grant Bashford are devastated after they became collateral damage from Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.

ALSO READ: World Rugby suspends Russia ’until further notice

The pair were coaching the Russian national rugby team until World Rugby yesterday suspended Russia and Belarus from international competition “in the interests rugby’s values of solidarity, integrity, and respect”.

While World Rugby has condemned Russian rugby to isolation, it has pledged renewed support from the Ukraine Rugby Federation.

In a jaw-dropping irony, the Ukraine and Russian rugby teams were sharing a training facility in Turkey when the war broke out and Muir, speaking from Antalya in Turkey, said the players got on just fine.

Muir, a former Springbok assistant coach, was two months ago tasked with transforming Russian Rugby, with Bashford his trusty lieutenant, and a week before their rejuvenated team was about to play arch-rivals Georgia, Russia invaded Ukraine...

“I’m devastated,” Muir told Independent Media. “We were about to play a string of matches in the Rugby Europe Championship (the second division behind the Six Nations).”We were holding out hope that some kind of agreement could keep us playing but that hasn’t happened. It is a massive disappointment for the Russian players as they have put so much effort into changing how they play. They responded really well to what we have been teaching them and there was a genuine belief that we could beat Georgia for the first time in 29 years.”

When the war began a week ago, the Russian players went home to their families while Muir and Bashford remained stranded in Turkey awaiting a decision from World Rugby.

That has now come and Bashford is