Rugby World Cup Profile – Romania
The Romanian national rugby union team, also known as The Oaks, is placed in Pool B of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). Besides Romania, other teams in Pool B include England, Scotland, Georgia and Argentina. Romania is one of the four European countries
placed in Pool B of the 2011 RWC.
The 2011 RWC appearance will be Romania’s seventh consecutive showing in the global showpiece tournament. Romania was the last (20th) qualifier for the 2011 RWC. They secured a spot in this year’s RWC after defeating the South American contenders,
Uruguay, 39-12.
The Oaks are currently ranked 18 in the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) World Rankings. Out of the 20 matches they have played in the history of the tournament, they have managed to win only four of them.
Out of their four World Cup pool matches win, their most impressive performance came during the 1991 RWC, in which they managed an upset defeat against the Fijian side by 17-15.
Romania has a limited number of international fixtures and the most recent international outing was during the IRB’s 2011 Nations Cup. Out of three matches of the tournament, they won just one game against Namibia, while they lost their respective games
against the Southern Kings and Argentinean Jaguars. The Oaks finished last on the points table, with just five points in the tournament.
Romanian teams strength lies in their forwards, while their performance at the scrums is well below average.
Romania’s international back row forward, Ovidiu Toni'a, is considered as their most notable player. Toni’a is versatile player and can play at both flanker and number eight positions. He plays his professional rugby with the French Top 14 outfit, Perpignan.
Besides him, former All Blacks world cup winning prop Steve McDowell is their forwards line coach. Romeo Gontineac, with his 14 international appearances, has the highest number of appearances for the Oaks.
Petre Mitu, with his 25 points from three games for Romania, is their highest point scorer while Marius Tincu is their top try scorer with three tries.
The Romanian 31-man provisional squad for 2011 RWC campaign includes:
Nicolae Nere (Steaua),Mihaita Lazăr (Aix-en-Provence), Silviu Florea (Bordeaux-Bègles), Dragoş Dima (Blagnac), Paulică Ion (London Irish), Marius Tincu (Perpignan), Bogdan Zebega (Steaua), Andrei Rădoi (Baia Mare), Valentin Ursache (Aix-en-Provence), Cristian
Petre (Saint-Étienne), Valentin Popirlan (CSM Bucureşti), Cosmin Raţiu (Dinamo), Ovidiu Toniţa (Perpignan), Mihai Macovei (Baia Mare), Daniel Carpo (Farul Constanţa), Daniel Ianus (Steau), Stelian Burcea (Timişoara), Lucian Sîrbu (Millau), Valentin Calafeteanu
(Timişoara), Florin Surugiu (CSM Bucureşti), Dănuţ Dumbravă (Steau), Ionuţ Dimofte (Baia Mare),
Csaba Gál (Baia Mare), Constantin Gheara (Farul Constanţa), Ionel Cazan (Steau), Cătălin Fercu (Timişoara), Mădălin Lemnaru (Timişoara), Stefan Ciuntu (Baia Mare), Florin Vlaicu (Steau), Iulian Dumitraș (Lourdes), Cătălin Nicolae (Farul Constanţa).
The Romanian side is not a favourite to reach the second round of the 2011 RWC. However, their pool match against European rivals Georgia is their most important game of the event, in which the two evenly poised sides will lock horn to register their respective
win in the tournament.
Other than Georgia, Romania has to cause a major upset and their players have to deliver the performance of their lives to secure a win against the likes of England, Argentina or Scotland.
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