Romania looking for renewed respectability

By DAVID LEGGAT

This tournament might reveal a path back to the days when Romanian rugby was respected as good, middle-tier standard.

They have been at every Cup, but the last few years have been lean.

Rugby benefited from the vile regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, who was apparently a keen supporter.

His demise in 1989 coincided with a downward spiral for the game in Romania.

Romania won a game at three of the four tournaments they have contested, beating Zimbabwe in 1987, Fiji in 1991 and the United States in 1999.

Invariably they have produced strong forwards and jarring tackling but backline flair and Romania do not fit together in the same sentence.

The 10-man game has been their staple, but their coach, Frenchman Bernard Charryere, is looking to introduce a measure of colour to the backline.

The key figures in this are French-based players.

The captain and centre, Romeo Gontineac, who plays for Aurillac, is a rugged defender and experienced player, and first five-eighths Ionut Tofan, of Racing Metro, reached 100 test points in his 16th match.

There is a bright young prospect at fullback, Danut Dumbrava, who is quick, a good kicker and sound defender, and a big, fast winger in Dan Dumitru.

Watch for fireworks among the pack, where lock Ovidiu Tonita, as well as being a good source of lineout possession, works off a seriously short fuse.

On the fireworks front, promising young hooker Marius Tincu, who is acknowledged as the powderkeg in the pack, was a late withdrawal.

This will be a tournament of small steps for the Romanians.

Launceston, in Tasmania, will host their big game, against Namibia on October 30.

Victory there should keep the Romanians off the bottom of the pool.

Wins over Australia, Ireland and Argentina are most likely beyond them.

If they did topple one of the latter two, it would be cause for seriously big celebrations back home.

Charryere has his sights on higher things.

He wants to restore Romanian rugby to a level where the team will compete on a more equal footing with their European neighbours and return to a stage when they were respectable international performers.

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