Romania national rugby union team

Romania

Nickname(s)	Stejarii (The Oaks)
Emblem	An oak leaf
Union	Federaţia Română de Rugby
Head coach	Andy Robinson
Captain	Mihai Macovei
Most caps	Florin Vlaicu (124)
Top scorer	Florin Vlaicu (992)
Top try scorer	Cătălin Fercu (33)
Home stadium	Stadionul Arcul de Triumf
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	19 (as of 23 November 2020)
Highest	13 (2003, 2005 and 2006)
Lowest	20 (2019)
First international
Romania 0–21 United States (Stade Pershing, Paris, France; 1 July 1919) All-military sides
Biggest win
Bulgaria 0–100 Romania (Burgas, Bulgaria; 21 September 1976)
Biggest defeat
England 134–0 Romania (London, England; 17 November 2001)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (First in 1987)
Best result	One Win, 1987, 1991, 1995,1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015
Medal record Olympic medal record Men's rugby 1924 Paris Team
Website	www.frr.ro

The Romania national rugby union team (Romanian: Echipa națională de rugby a României) represents Romania in men's international rugby union competitions, nicknamed The Oaks (Stejarii), is long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they won most recently in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation. The team plays in yellow and blue strips.

France first played rugby against Romania in 1924 when they tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations championship. Romania holds with 25 matches the record for the longest unbeaten run.^[1] Although not regarded as a first-tier team in more recent times, their history includes an away draw against Ireland, and wins against four (France, Italy, Scotland, Wales) of the other Six Nations Championship teams.^[2]

Romania have played in every Rugby World Cup through 2015, but were disqualified from the 2019 Rugby World Cup after fielding ineligible players during the qualification process.^[3]

History

Early history

Romania versus France at the Inter-Allied Games of 1919

The game itself was introduced by students returning with rugby balls from their studies in Paris to form clubs such as Stadiul Roman from 1913 onwards. Seventeen other teams would be formed in the capital, Bucharest.

Romania's first international was played against the US in 1919. France first officially played rugby union against Romania in May 1924 when they tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations Championship (now the Six Nations). France were victorious by 59 points to 3.

Romania were one of three teams who entered the 1924 Olympics in Paris. France won 59–3, scoring 13 tries including four by the fine Stade Francais winger Adolphe Jaureguy. The USA then defeated Romania 39–0. Romania finishing third claimed the bronze medal. The Federaţia Română de Rugby was formed in 1931. In 1939 a team was formed in Braşov at an aircraft factory. This was the first team outside Bucharest.

Post-World War II

Alex Penciu, one of the greatest rugby union players in the 1960s.

The communist regime used rugby union like it used other sports, as a propaganda tool during the Cold War with the West. Every international success was presented as a direct result of the righteousness of the communist rule and ideology. All the financial resources were directed toward the preparation of the national team to the detriment of domestic development. Top players were employed in the army or the police, whose sides CSA Steaua București and Dynamo practised six days a week in superb sporting centres. These infrastructures bred a talented national side.

A generation of French school trained coaches from late 1940s, and 1950s built a system and led the national team to success of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In this era Romania began to compete more regularly against the major nations. Their first win over France came in 1960 in Bucharest, in a tour match won by 11–5. In 1974 Romania won against France 15 – 10 in Bucharest,^[4] and the FIRA – Association of European Rugby championship.^[5] In 1975 Romania went for an 8-game tour to New Zealand, concluding in Wellington with a 10–10 draw against the Junior All Blacks. Exposure to international rugby developed the country's game and they began to form their own distinctive style of play, built around giant, bruising packs. That Romania was emerging as a real force on the world stage became clear on their 1979 Romania rugby union tour of Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in 1979 in an unofficial, non-cap international. The Oaks led going into the dying minutes, when only a last-gasp drop goal from Gareth Davies gave a narrow 13–12 victory for Wales. The improvement continued in 1980, when Romania crushed the French in a record 15–0 win in Bucharest. A trip to Lansdowne Road in the 1980 Romania rugby union tour of Ireland then yielded a 13–13 draw against Ireland in another unofficial, non-cap match.

In the 1980s the country boasted more than 12,000 players in 110 clubs. Home nations sides began to award international caps for matches against Romania in 1981; Scotland were the first to do so when Romania visited them on their 1981 tour, Scotland winning the international by 12 points to 6.^[6] Wales travelled to Bucharest in November 1983 and were totally overwhelmed, falling to a 24–6 defeat. Romania's first win over Scotland came in Bucharest in 1984 and their first away win against Five Nations opposition came in 1988 against Wales; 15–9 at Cardiff Arms Park.

Their national side beat Wales (twice – 1983: 24–6 in Romania, 1988: 15–9 in Wales), Scotland (the 1984 Grand Slam side 28–22 in Romania), France (twice 1980: 15–0 in Romania, 1982: 13–9 in Romania) and drew with Ireland (13–13, in 1980, at Dublin). In 1981, they lost to the All Blacks 14–6 but had two tries disallowed. Many felt it was wrong for the rugby union powers to fail to bring them into top-flight competition. There are even rumours that the Oaks were invited to join but refused because the championship took place during their winter break. Romania beat Zimbabwe 21–20 in their first ever Rugby World Cup match in 1987 but did not win any other games and failed to progress beyond the group stage.

After the collapse of Communism

However, with the deterioration of the domestic political and economic situation in the country in the 1990s, Romanian rugby union suffered; the two leading rugby union teams – Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest, represented the police and the army respectively, so their state funding fell.

Post-revolution, Romanian rugby union was still alive and kicking. In 1990 they recorded their best win to date by beating France 12–6 on French soil for the first time. The following year they beat Scotland 18–12. At the 1991 World Cup they beat Fiji 17–15 and as recently as the 1995 World Cup, Romania held the eventual winners South Africa to a highly respectable 21–8.

The professionalism that followed immediately upon the heels of that World Cup was the undoing of the sport in Romania. Approximately 200 Romanian players are thought to be playing in France and Italy. It was not just playing numbers that suffered, but a whole generation of potential referees and administrators was lost to the game. By 1994 Romania's rugby fortunes had declined sharply, when a Welsh team travelled to Bucharest for an uncapped international the visitors came away with a 16–9 win. In 1997 the Romanians toured Wales. They lost 36–21 to Wales A at Pontypridd and 70–21 in a test held in Wrexham. At the 1999 World Cup Romania could again only manage a single win 27–25 against the United States.

The new millennium

Romania versus Ireland at Lansdowne Road in 2005.

In 2000, Romania won the first European Nations Cup by a large margin, recording victories in all four matches. By 2001, Romania had been caught by the likes of Georgia who defeated them to take the 2001 European Nations Cup, crowned with a decisive 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest. The national side lost to England by 134–0 in 2001 and Dinamo Bucharest lost 151–0 to Saracens in the European Rugby Shield. Several French-based players refused to turn up for the England debacle simply because their clubs refused to pay them for the week. Players in that Romanian squad were getting £30 a day in expenses while England's top earners scooped £6,000 for their afternoon's work.

In January 2002, Bernard Charreyre was appointed coach of the national team both supplied by and paid by the French Rugby Federation (FFR). Under Charreyre (known by The Oaks as 'Little Napoleon'), the Oaks’ decline has been stopped and the team has started to slowly climb from the basement of international rugby union. With a change of format in the European Nations Cup, Romania started in 2002 trailing Georgia due to the inclusion of 2001 results. The Oaks won all of the remaining five games, including a hard-fought 31–23 victory in Tbilisi to win the tournament. They qualified for the World Cup in 2003, where they beat Namibia and lost to Ireland (45–17), after an honourable display, and then to Australia (90–8) and Argentina (50–3). Charreyre was dismissed after the World Cup as the Romanian Federation was not satisfied by the World Cup performance and decided not to renew his contract. Three other French coaches followed: first, Phillipe Sauton, for a very short period, Robert Antonin as a temporary stand-in and then Daniel Santamans.

In the 2003–2004 European Nations Cup, Portugal were surprise 16–15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves on the top of the 2003 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania seemed back on track (36–6 against Portugal in Constanţa), but went down 24–33 to Russia in Krasnodar following allegations of players having been doped. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19–18 win over Russia in Lisbon. In 2004, the Romanians scored a narrow 25–24 victory over Italy, their first victory to date over a Six Nations Championship side.

In 2005 Romania was given 'second tier' status by the IRB and replaced Russia in the Super Powers Cup. The USA beat a Romanian team stripped of their France-based players 23–16 in the third place play-off. The 2005–06 European Nations Cup also served as a qualifying group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Romania triumphed despite finishing level on points with Georgia.

Romania qualified for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, finishing at the top of their pool during the Round 5 of the European qualifying tournaments. Romania won their first qualifying match on October 7, defeating Georgia in Bucharest 20–8. Their 43–20 win over Spain in Madrid on October 14 ensured that they qualified directly for the World Cup in 2007. In June 2007, Romania hosted the IRB Nations Cup in Bucuresti.^[7] In the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, Romania won a bonus point in the 18–24 loss to Italy and to win a second game with Portugal by a narrow margin (14–10), but suffered heavy losses to Scotland (42–0) and New Zealand (85–8).

Romania national rugby union team after receiving the Pershing Trophy in 2016 at their home ground, Stadionul Arcul de Triumf after a test match against USA

On 21 March 2009, Romania lost 22–21 at home to Portugal, leaving them with an uphill struggle to qualify for the 2011 World Cup – qualification for which is determined by performances in the European Nations Cup in 2009 and 2010. Romania went unbeaten, with a draw at Russia, in the 2010 phase of the European Nations Cup. The Oaks' strong finish put them in third place and the final phase of the European qualification playoffs, in which they easily defeated Ukraine over two legs (94–10 on aggregate) for the European place in the Final Place Playoff for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Romania emerged as the last qualifier for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand by overcoming first Tunisia in a winner-takes-it-all game (56–13) and later Uruguay (60–33 on aggregate). Thus, the Oaks are one of only 12 teams to participate at all World Cups alongside New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina, Canada, and Japan.

In November 2016, Romania achieved home soil wins against the US, Canada and Uruguay.^[8]

In 2018, Romania finished top of the Rugby Europe Championship, meaning they qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be played in Japan in 2019. But after the conclusion of the tournament World Rugby conducted a review of player eligibility and found Romania fielded Sione Faka'osilea, who previously played for the Tonga Sevens team, which made him ineligible to play for Romania in the competition. Romania was stripped of 30 competition points, which placed them third and meant that they failed to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, with Russia taking their place.^[9]

On 29 May 2018, it was confirmed that Romania had appealed the decision.^[10] On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld, meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilst Germany advanced to round 6.^[11]

Honours

• Rugby union at the Summer Olympics
  • Bronze Medal (1): 1924
• Rugby Europe International Championships
  • Winner (10): 1968–1969, 1974–1975, 1976–1977, 1980–1981, 1982–1983, 2000, 2001–2002, 2004–2006, 2010, 2017
  • Runners-Up (14)
  • Third-Place (12)
• Antim Cup
  • Winner (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2017
• World Rugby Nations Cup
  • Winner (4): 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016

Record

Romania holds the record for the longest unbeaten run: 25 matches in between May 1959 and November 1964.^[12]

Wins against Tier 1 nations

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Status
14 April 1940	Romania	3–0	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
5 June 1960[13]	Romania	11–5	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
10 June 1962	Romania	14–6	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
11 November 1962	Romania	3–0	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 May 1967	Romania	15–14	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1966–67 FIRA Nations Cup
1 December 1968	Romania	24–3	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1968–69 FIRA Nations Cup
25 October 1970	Italy	3–14	Romania	Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini, Rovigo	1969–70 FIRA Nations Cup
11 April 1971	Romania	32–6	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1970–71 FIRA Nations Cup
13 October 1974	Romania	15–10	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1974–75 FIRA Trophy
14 November 1976	Romania	15–12	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1976–77 FIRA Trophy
1 May 1977	Romania	69–0	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1976–77 FIRA Trophy
22 April 1979	Romania	44–0	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1978–79 FIRA Trophy
23 November 1980	Romania	15–0	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1980–81 FIRA Trophy
12 April 1981	Romania	35–9	Italy	Brăila	1980–81 FIRA Trophy
31 October 1982	Romania	13–9	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1982–83 FIRA Trophy
10 April 1983	Romania	13–6	Italy	Buzău	1982–83 FIRA Trophy
12 November 1983	Romania	24–6	Wales	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
20 May 1984	Romania	28–22	Scotland	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 April 1985	Romania	7–6	Italy	Brașov	1984–85 FIRA Trophy
12 April 1987	Romania	9–3	Italy	Constanța	1985–87 FIRA Trophy
2 April 1988	Italy	3–12	Romania	San Siro, Milan	1987–89 FIRA Trophy
10 December 1988	Wales	9–15	Romania	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	Test Match
15 April 1989	Romania	28–4	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1987–89 FIRA Trophy
14 April 1990	Italy	9–16	Romania	Frascati	1989–90 FIRA Trophy
24 May 1990	France	9–12	Romania	Stade du Moulias, Auch	1989–90 FIRA Trophy
31 August 1991	Romania	18–12	Scotland	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 May 1994	Romania	26–12	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1992–94 FIRA Trophy
26 June 2004	Romania	25–24	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match

European competitions

Romania's only annual tournament is a competition involving Europe's tier 2 and tier 3 national teams. From 1936 through 1938, they competed in the FIRA Tournament against France, Germany and Italy. In 1965 till 1973 the FIRA Nations Cup was formed allowing other teams to be promoted or relegated from the competition. Romania won the competition once in 1969, being the only team to defeat France.

Pre–WWII Tournament (1936 – 1938)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	6	6	0	0	133	48	+85	–	3
Germany	6	3	0	3	83	92	–9	–	0
Italy	5	3	0	2	75	76	–1	–	0
Romania	7	1	0	6	81	114	–33	–	0
Belgium	2	1	0	1	20	48	–28	–	0
Netherlands	2	0	0	2	8	62	–54	–	0

FIRA Nations Cup (1965 – 1973)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	26	25	0	1	824	198	+626	65	7
Romania	26	17	1	8	528	222	+306	51	1
Czechoslovakia	17	2	2	13	135	411	–267	16	0
Morocco	9	2	0	7	65	332	–267	13	0
Italy	13	4	1	8	86	227	–141	12	0
West Germany	10	1	1	8	81	132	–51	6	0
Spain	3	1	0	2	56	55	+1	5	0
Poland	3	0	0	3	19	132	–113	3	0
Portugal	3	0	0	3	23	108	–85	0	0

European Nations Cup (2000–present)

Winners

Year		First Division					Lower Division Champions
		Winner	Second	Third	Relegated		Division 2	Division 3
2000		Romania	Georgia	Morocco			Russia	Czech Republic
2001		Georgia	Romania	Russia			Poland	Not played [14]
2001–2002		Romania	Georgia	Russia	Netherlands		Czech Republic[15]	Slovenia
2003–2004		Portugal	Romania	Georgia	Spain		Ukraine	Moldova
2004–2006		Romania	Georgia	Portugal	Ukraine		Spain	Latvia
2006–2008		Georgia	Russia	Romania	Czech Republic		Germany	Sweden
2008–2010		Georgia	Russia	Portugal	Germany [16]		Ukraine	Lithuania
2010		Romania	Georgia	Russia
2011		Georgia	Romania	Portugal	Ukraine [17]		Belgium	Sweden
2012		Georgia	Spain	Romania
2013		Georgia	Romania	Russia	Belgium [18]		Germany	Netherlands
2014		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2015		Georgia	Romania	Spain	Portugal		Belgium	Estonia
2016		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2017		Romania	Georgia	Spain	-		Portugal	Czech Republic / Malta
2018		Georgia	Russia	Germany	-
2019		Georgia	Spain	Romania	Germany			TBD

All-time table

	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	AVPPG	Pts	Champs
Georgia	100	83	4	13	3096	1151	+ 1945	30.96	334	11
Romania	100	72	2	26	3024	1311	+ 1713	30.24	288	5
Russia	85	47	3	34	2190	1788	+ 402	26.07	186	0
Portugal	85	35	3	47	1605	1865	- 260	18.88	152	1
Spain	80	25	4	51	1575	2020	− 445	19.69	145	0
Czech Republic	29	6	0	23	362	1075	− 713	12.48	40	0
Germany	25	3	1	21	341	1064	− 723	13.64	26	0
Netherlands	15	1	0	14	278	652	− 374	18.53	17	0
Ukraine	20	1	0	19	201	998	− 797	10.05	15	0
Morocco	5	3	0	2	94	69	+ 25	18.80	11	0
Belgium	20	2	1	17	204	412	− 208	13.6	8	0

ENC champions

Rivalries

Romania and Georgia have enjoyed a rivalry between the two most successful teams in the European Nations Cup. The winner of the rivalry takes home the Antim Cup.

Romania had competed in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987; that streak ended in 2018, when they were expelled from the 2019 tournament via points deduction for fielding ineligible players. Their best finish was with one win in 1987, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. They lost all pool matches in 1995 and 2011. So far Romania has not hosted any World Cup games, but it may put in bids for future tournaments.

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Pool stage	3	1	0	2	61	130		-
1991	Pool stage	3	1	0	2	31	64		3	2	0	1	85	42
1995	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	14	97		4	2	0	2	105	46
1999	Pool Stage	3	1	0	2	50	126		6	4	0	2	300	127
2003	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	65	192		2	1	0	1	84	31
2007	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	40	161		12	10	0	2	452	122
2011	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	44	169		12	8	1	3	376	142
2015	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	60	129		10	8	1	1	242	106
2019	Expelled after qualification								8	6	0	2	296	106
2023	To be determined								To be determined
Total	8/9	28	6	0	22	365	1068		57	41	2	14	1940	722

World Cup Results
Year	Stage	Opponent	Final Score	Venue
1987	Pool D	Zimbabwe	21 – 20	Eden Park
		France	12 – 55	Lancaster Park
		Scotland	28 – 55	Carisbrook
1991	Pool D	France	3 – 30	Stade de la Méditerranée
		Canada	11 – 19	Stade Ernest-Wallon
		Fiji	17 – 15	Parc Municipal des Sports
1995	Pool A	Canada	3 – 34	Boet Erasmus Stadium
		South Africa	8 – 21	Newlands
		Australia	3 – 42	Danie Craven Stadium
1999	Pool E	Australia	9 – 57	Ravenhill
		United States	27 – 25	Lansdowne Road
		Ireland	14 – 44	Lansdowne Road
2003	Pool A	Ireland	17 – 45	Central Coast Stadium
		Australia	8 – 90	Suncorp Stadium
		Argentina	3 – 50	Aussie Stadium
		Namibia	37 – 7	York Park
2007	Pool C	Italy	18 – 24	Stade Vélodrome
		Scotland	0 – 42	Murrayfield Stadium
		Portugal	14 – 10	Stadium de Toulouse
		New Zealand	8 – 85	Stadium de Toulouse
2011	Pool B	Scotland	24 – 34	Rugby Park Stadium
		Argentina	8 – 43	Rugby Park Stadium
		England	3 – 67	Otago Stadium
		Georgia	9 – 25	Arena Manawatu
2015	Pool D	France	11 – 38	Olympic Stadium
		Ireland	10 – 44	Wembley Stadium
		Canada	17 – 15	Leicester City Stadium
		Italy	22 – 32	Sandy Park

Overall

Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 15 February, 2021[19]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.20
2		New Zealand	088.95
3		England	087.49
4		France	086.42
5	1	Australia	083.08
6	1	Ireland	082.31
7	1	Wales	082.11
8	1	Scotland	081.29
9		Argentina	080.31
10		Japan	079.29
11		Fiji	076.87
12		Georgia	072.18
13		Tonga	071.44
14		Italy	070.88
15		Samoa	070.72
16		United States	068.10
17		Spain	067.71
18		Uruguay	067.02
19		Romania	065.33
20		Portugal	062.25
21		Russia	062.12
22		Hong Kong	061.23
23		Canada	061.11
24		Namibia	061.04
25		Netherlands	060.09
26		Brazil	058.19
27		Belgium	057.17
28		Switzerland	054.12
29		Chile	053.81
30		Germany	053.13
*Change from the previous week
Romania's historical rankings
See or edit raw graph data.
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 16 November 2020[19]

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Romania national XV at test level up until 10 January 2021.^[20]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	8	0	8	0	0.0%	117	325	−208
Argentina XV	5	4	1	0	80.0%	113	74	+39
Australia	3	0	3	0	0.0%	20	189	−169
Belgium	7	7	0	0	100.0%	358	81	+277
Brazil	2	2	0	0	100.0%	78	26	+52
Bulgaria	2	2	0	0	100.0%	170	3	+167
Canada	8	6	2	0	75.0%	138	142	−4
Czech Republic	6	6	0	0	100.0%	307	53	+254
Czechoslovakia	18	17	0	1	77.8%	349	105	+244
East Germany	13	12	0	1	92.3%	393	69	+324
England	5	0	5	0	0.0%	24	335	−311
Fiji	3	1	2	0	33.3%	42	70	−28
France	50	8	41	2	15.7%	473	1342	−869
France A	1	0	1	0	0.0%	16	20	−4
France XV	5	0	5	0	0.0%	30	153	−123
Georgia	24	9	14	1	37.5%	394	476	−82
Germany	11	6	5	0	54.5%	367	158	+209
Ireland	9	0	9	0	0.0%	102	390	−288
Ireland XV	1	0	0	1	0.0%	13	13	+0
Emerging Ireland	1	0	1	0	0.0%	10	31	−21
Italy	42	16	23	3	38.1%	634	609	+25
Italy A	4	2	2	0	50.0%	65	87	−22
Emerging Italy	2	2	0	0	100.0%	43	26	+17
Japan	6	1	5	0	16.7%	119	152	−33
Japan XV	1	1	0	0	100.0%	30	25	+5
Morocco	8	7	1	0	87.5%	342	56	+286
Namibia	6	5	1	0	83.3%	158	66	+92
Netherlands	7	7	0	0	100.0%	296	46	+250
New Zealand	2	0	2	0	0.0%	14	99	−85
New Zealand XV	1	0	1	0	0.0%	30	60	−30
Junior All Blacks	1	0	0	1	0.0%	10	10	+0
Poland	16	14	2	0	87.5%	514	143	+371
Portugal	24	21	3	0	87.5%	758	233	+525
Russia	22	15	6	1	68.2%	545	309	+236
Samoa	2	2	0	0	100.0%	49	37	+12
Scotland	13	2	11	0	15.4%	192	475	−283
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0.0%	18	21	−3
South Africa	1	0	1	0	0.0%	8	21	−13
Emerging Springboks	2	0	2	0	0.00%	20	86	−66
Soviet Union	15	12	3	0	80.0%	251	153	+98
Spain	36	33	3	0	91.7%	1041	363	+678
Tonga	3	1	3	0	33.3%	55	64	−9
Tunisia	5	4	1	0	80.0%	189	42	+147
Ukraine	7	7	0	0	100.0%	400	43	+357
United States	9	2	7	0	22.2%	104	230	−126
Uruguay	9	7	1	1	77.8%	226	85	-141
Wales	8	2	6	0	25.0%	96	342	−246
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0.0%	12	13	−1
West Germany	9	8	1	0	88.9%	199	69	+130
Zimbabwe	4	4	0	0	100.0%	123	84	+39
Total	449	255	184	12	57.79%	10055	8104	+1951

Players

Current squad

The following 50 players were called up for the 2021 Rugby Europe Championship on the 16th of February 2021.^[21]

Head Coach: Andy Robinson

• Caps Updated: 16 February 2021

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Tudor Butnariu	Hooker	12 March 1995	0	Steaua București
Eugen Căpățână	Hooker	18 June 1986	48	Rugby Timișoara
Ovidiu Cojocaru	Hooker	19 November 1996	12	Baia Mare
Iulian Hartig	Hooker	11 October 1998	4	Baia Mare
Ionel Badiu	Prop	29 July 1989	23	Valence Romans
Vasile Bălan	Prop	7 February 1992	1	Steaua București
Costel Burtilă	Prop	14 July 1991	3	Carqueiranne Hyères
Alex Gordaș	Prop	11 May 1994	22	Stade Niçois
Domițian Mureșan	Prop	1 August 1995	0	Baia Mare
Constantin Pristăviță	Prop	23 May 1993	44	Baia Mare
Alexandru Savin	Prop	12 February 1995	7	Steaua București
Alexandru Țăruș	Prop	9 May 1989	35	Zebre
Ioan Tomașcu	Prop	8 July 1992	0	Niort
Marius Antonescu	Lock	9 August 1992	36	Bourg en Bresse
Virghil Ghenea	Lock	26 April 2001	0	Steaua București
Marius Iftimiciuc	Lock	13 August 1997	0	Périgueux
Ionuț Mureșan	Lock	6 October 1994	9	Rugby Timișoara
Adrian Moțoc	Lock	11 July 1996	10	Aurillac
Florian Roșu	Lock	20 April 1993	0	Baia Mare
Johannes van Heerden	Lock	9 December 1986	44	Dinamo București
Alexandru Alexe	Back row	26 August 1997	0	Baia Mare
Cristi Boboc	Back row	9 October 1995	0	Tomitanii Constanța
Cristi Chirică	Back row	9 April 1997	14	Appaméen
Vlad Neculau	Back row	1 July 1998	2	Rugby Timișoara
Mihai Macovei (c)	Back row	29 October 1986	87	Colomiers
André Gorin	Back row	30 November 1987	30	Bayonne
Răzvan Ilișescu	Back row	9 December 1993	3	Blagnac
Dragoș Ser	Back row	4 March 1999	4	Steaua București
Kamil Sobota	Back row	31 March 1992	2	Steaua București
Damian Strătilă	Back row	20 July 1996	0	Steaua București
Julien Bartoli	Scrum-half	21 September 1999	0	Steaua București
Gabriel Rupanu	Scrum-half	28 September 1997	1	Rugby Timișoara
Florin Surugiu	Scrum-half	10 December 1984	84	Steaua București
Alexandru Țiglă	Scrum-half	19 February 1993	4	Baia Mare
Tudor Boldor	Fly-half	29 November 1997	5	Steaua București
Daniel Plai	Fly-half	5 September 1994	12	Steaua București
Alexandru Bucur	Centre	24 April 1994	4	Baia Mare
Cătălin Fercu	Centre	5 September 1986	109	Rugby Timișoara
Taylor Gontineac	Centre	16 July 2000	4	Clermont
Moa Mua Maliepo	Centre	12 May 1996	2	Houston SaberCats
Vlăduț Popa	Centre	27 March 1996	13	Steaua București
Florin Vlaicu	Centre	26 July 1986	124	Steaua București
Ionuț Dumitru	Wing	6 November 1992	42	Steaua București
Tangimana Fonovai	Wing	25 October 1989	17	Steaua București
Cosmin Iliuță	Wing	2 March 1998	0	Steaua București
Mihai Lămboiu	Wing	25 July 1997	2	Baia Mare
Nicolas Onuțu	Wing	27 December 1995	10	Vienne
Stephen Shennan	Wing	7 January 1991	17	Rugby Timișoara
Ionel Melinte	Fullback	31 January 1996	10	Rugby Timișoara
Paul Popoaia	Fullback	29 May 2000	0	Baia Mare

Notable players

Romania's current top point scorer and most capped player of all time, Florin Vlaicu.

The 1924 Romania Olympic team are the only Romanian inductee to have been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. Nicolae Mărăscu captained the famously Hall of Fame side. The highest point of Mărăscu's career was at the 1924 tournament earning Romanaia the Bronze medal. He played as a centre and had five caps, without ever scoring, since his first match, in 1919, a 48–5 loss to France, in Paris, for the Inter-Allied Games, and his last, at 22 May 1927, in a 21–5 win over Czechoslovakia, in Bratislava.

Iulian Dumitraș was Romania's main man. Dumitraș was known to be one of the Oaks' most gifted playmakers, with an accurate kicking boot and a penchant for sparking attacks. Having made his test debut in 2002, he went on to start in every match a Rugby World Cup 2007 in France, bringing plenty of experience to the nation. The then standing 1.88m and weighing in a 110 kg, Dumitraș was a punishing runner when he chimes into the line on attack, which he looked to do often, and he provided a solid and dependable last obstacle in defence.

Sorin Socol is regarded by many good judges as the then best player in the current squad and was one of the rocks of the Romanian forward pack. He has captained the most matches to date for Romania, between 2003 and 2011. A total of 61 tests, 36 of them were as captain. He captained Romania for the first time on 30 October 2003 during the 2003 Rugby World Cup match against Namibia. He went on and featured in the 2007 World Cup squad and eventually retired from all international rugby after the 2011 tournament. Socol had one of Romania's highest winning percentage as a captain of 63.88.

Florin Vlaicu is Romania's top ever point scorer and also the most capped player appearing in 104 tests so far. Vlaicu made his international debut in 2006 as a substitute against Ukraine. He played for Romania in the IRB Nations Cup and in their 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying before appearing for them in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played two Tests at the World Cup as a substitute against both Scotland and the All Blacks. He also played at the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups.

Cristian Petre is Romania's most recognized player after dominating the lock position for eleven years. He is one of Romania's most capped player with a total of 92 matches and a career span that started in 2001 against England and ended in 2012 against Italy. Petre has featured in three Rugby World Cups, first in 2003, going on to feature in 2007 and his last being in 2011. Petre has scored a total of six tries and had winning percentage of 55.43.

Cătălin Fercu is generally regarded as one of Romania's true global superstar of rugby union. Fercu is Romania's top try scorers. He had quickly made appearances on the international stage at a very young age and played against France and Scotland in the Autumn internationals in 2006. He also scored a try against the French. Fercu helped guide Romania to the 2007 Rugby World Cup as he played in the qualifier matches including the vital games against Georgia and Spain and scored a try against Spain in the game that sealed their qualification to the Rugby World Cup. Fercu was a late withdrawal from their Rugby World Cup squad in 2011 because he was not prepared to fly all the way to New Zealand. The Romanian side arrived in Christchurch to prepare for their first game of the tournament against Scotland in Invercargill on 10 September without Fercu, who failed to get on the plane when it left Romania.

Another one of the Oaks greatest players are Romeo Gontineac, represented Romania in four Rugby World Cups from 1995 to 2007. The hard running centre, who became the national coach in 2010, was capped 75 times for the nation, scoring 13 tries and a drop goal. During his career he played professionally in Romania, South Africa and France.

Members of the 1924 Olympics team

Coaches

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Romanian national team:^[22]

Name	Nationality	Role
Daniel Carpo	ROU	Manager
Andy Robinson	ENG	Head coach
Steve Scott	SCO	Assistant coach (Forwards)
Sosene Anesi	NZL	Assistant coach (Backs)
Florin Tașcă	ROU	Fitness coach
Dr. Dan Wanya-Crîngu	ROU	Team doctor
Marius Todosi	ROU	Kineotherapist
Sandu Constantin	ROU	Kineotherapist
Paul Larter	SCO	Video-Analyst

Individual all-time records

Most caps

Last updated: Russia vs Romania, 8 March 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[23]

Most tries

Last updated: Russia vs Romania, 8 March 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[24]

Most points

Last updated: Russia vs Romania, 8 March 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[25]

Most matches as captain

Last updated: Russia vs Romania, 8 March 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[26]

Most points in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Ionuţ Tofan	Fly-half	32	2	8	2	0	Spain	Iași	05/10/2002
2	Virgil Popisteanu	Fly-half	27	0	12	1	0	Portugal	Bucharest	13/04/1996
	Petre Mitu	Scrum-half	27	1	2	6	0	Portugal	Lisbon	04/02/2001
4	Ionel Rotaru	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Portugal	Bucharest	13/04/1996
5	Florin Vlaicu	Fullback	24	1	8	0	1	Czech Republic	Bucharest	22/03/2008
	Florin Vlaicu	Centre	24	1	2	5	0	Russia	Bucharest	09/02/2013
7	Gelu Ignat	Fly-half	22	0	5	4	0	Netherlands	Treviso	30/09/1990
	Petre Mitu	Scrum-half	22	1	4	3	0	Russia	Bârlad	18/03/2001
	Ionuţ Tofan	Fly-half	22	1	1	5	0	Russia	Krasnodar	24/03/2002
10	5 players on 21 points

Last updated: Russia vs Romania, 8 March 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[27]

Most tries in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Gheorgie Rascanu	Flanker	20	5	0	0	0	Morocco	Bucharest	02/05/1972
	Cornel Popescu	Wing	20	5	0	0	0	Portugal	Bârlad	18/10/1986
	Ionel Rotaru	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Portugal	Bucharest	13/04/1996
4	Petre Motrescu	Wing	16	4	0	0	0	Italy	Bucharest	01/05/1977
	Gheorghe Solomie	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Belgium	Brussels	04/10/1997
	Lucian Colceriu	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Poland	Bucharest	02/05/1998
7	10 players on 3 tries

Last updated: Russia vs Romania, 8 March 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[28]

Media coverage

Romania's Rugby Europe Championship matches, mid year tests and end of year internationals are currently televised by TVR.

Kit suppliers

See also

• Rugby union in Romania
• Federaţia Română de Rugby
• List of Romania national rugby union players
• Romania national under-20 rugby union team
• Romania national rugby sevens team
• Romania women's national rugby sevens team
• Sport in Romania

References

External links

• Federaţia Română de Rugby - Official Site (in Romanian)
• PlanetaOvala.ro - Romanian Rugby News
• www.rugby.ro (in Romanian, French, and English)
• Planet-Rugby news for Romania