Andrei Ostrikov

Andrei Ostrikov

File:USO-Sale Sharks - 20131205 - Andrei Ostrikov.jpg
Date of birth	(1987-07-02) 2 July 1987
Place of birth	Moscow, Russia
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	118 kg (18 st 8 lb)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Lock, Blindside Flanker
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2006–2009 2009–2011 2011–	SU Agen Aurillac Sale Sharks	18 61	(0) 15
correct as of 29 August 2015.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2008–	Russia	25	(15)

Andrei Ostrikov (Russian: Андрей Остриков) (born 2 July 1987 in Moscow, Russia) is a rugby union player for the Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership for the Russian National Rugby Team. He plays as a lock or a blindside flanker.

Background

Andrey was a volleyball player until 15 years old at the Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve N111 in Zelenograd, Russia. After that he decided to try his hand at rugby and joined a rugby school team in Zelenograd. He was a member of the under-19 Junior National Rugby Team.

Career

Club

After the Under-19 Rugby World Cup in Dubai, Andrey was noticed by the scouts of a French club SUA (Agen). A couple of months later, in 2006, he signed his first professional contract with the Top14 side SUA (Agen) for three-years. During the next two-years he was a member of the academy squad of SUA (Agen). In 2008, during the third year of his contract, Andrey debuted in a french professional PRO D2. In 2009 Andrey was transferred from Agen to SACA (Aurillac) in the same division PRO D2 where he played for a further two years. Later, Clermont-Auvergne, the French giant of European rugby became interested in Andrey but in 2011, the sports director of an English club Sale Sharks Steve Diamond (a former coach of the Russian National Rugby Team), poached Ostrikov to Foggy Albion. During these four years Andrey has received excellent feedback from sports journalists and sport fans. Andrey almost completely missed the season 2012–13 because of a shoulder injury. In 2014–15 he participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup as a Sale Sharks player. In 2015 Ostrikov extended his contract with Sale Sharks for two more years.

National Team

Andrey’s debut in the National Team took place on 1 March 2008 in Krasnodar where he (20 years old) helped the Russian “Bears” to beat the Portuguese National Rugby Team 41–26. Since that time Andrey has played 25 games for Russia and is one of the irreplaceable players of the team. He was a member of the Russian National Squad at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2011.