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I thought this was interesting. He will be coming up against the Wallabies.
Melbourne Rebels lock Adam Byrnes has been named in the Russia squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The 30-year-old qualifies for the country through his maternal grandparents, who moved to Australia from the Soviet Union following World War II.
Byrnes made himself available to play for the Bears earlier this season and impressed during a recent training camp to make the 30-man squad, reduced from an initial 50.
He is expected to play his first game in Russian colours when they take on British club Gloucester in a trial on Friday.
The World Cup adventure is sure to add to Byrnes' reputation as a journeyman, having debuted in Super Rugby at the relatively late age of 27 for Queensland in 2009.
Prior to that he enjoyed a successful stint with Irish club Leinster and played for the Reds before linking up with the Rebels for their inaugural campaign under Rod Macqueen.
Byrnes played nine matches in Melbourne colours this season and becomes the fourth Rebel to earn World Cup selection after Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor and Nick Phipps.
He is likely to come up against at least one of that triumvirate when Russia takes on Australia at Nelson on October 1.
Russia World Cup squad: Denis Anotonov, Vladimir Botvinnikov, Adam Byrnes, Artem Fatakhov, Andrey Garbuzov, Viatcheslav Grachev, Victor Gresev, Alexander Kkrokin, Vladislav Korshunov, Evgenii Matveev, Andrey Ostrikov, Sergey Popov, Ivan Prischchepenko, Mikhail Sidorov, Alexey Travkin, Valeriy Tsnobiladze, Alexander Voytov, Vasily Artemyev, Mikhail Babaev, Andrey Bykanov, Igor Galinovskiy, Igor Klyuchnikov, Yury Kushnarev, Andrey Kuzin, Alexey Makovetskiy, Vladimir Ostroushko, Konstantin Rachkov, Alexander Shakirov, Denis Simplikevich, Alexander Yanyushkin