KEY POINTS:
BUCHAREST - Romania's realistic World Cup hopes rest on just beating debutants Portugal which goes to show how far they have fallen over the last decade.
It will be the sixth visit to the World Cup for the 'Oaks' but again they look likely to be returning home after the pool stages with opponents of the stature of tournament favourites New Zealand, Scotland and Italy.
While on paper it looks quite an impressive squad with 18 of the 30 players playing for French clubs - in reality few actually get to see first-team play.
One of those playing in France is lock Sorin Socol who has played in France for 11 years, seven of those for Brive and four for Agen before signing up for Pau and was part of the squad for the 2003 edition which he said was a dream come true.
"I had the luck to see the 2003 World Cup in Australia, which is a kid's dream," said Socol, who will turn 30 on November 30.
"I hope the younger players are conscious of that. We have to give the best image of our country."
Socol, though, is realistic about his country's hopes at the global showpiece.
"The former players often talk to us of the glory days," said Socol, who has been naturalised French for the past two-and-a-half years.
"That annoys some players but I can understand it.
"At the time, rugby was amateur and now it is professional with more reliance on nutrition and physical education.
"For 15 years, we stayed at the same level of 30 years ago. It is time for us to make up this time difference, but it will be a hard and long one."
French-born team manager and joint coach Robert Antonin said that the final selections had been made on the basis of versatility.
"Versatility is a key element to have in hand for such a competition," he said following three squad training camps ahead of Romania's departure for France.
France has played a large part in Romania's rugby history - indeed the sport was introduced to the country when some Romanian students brought back rugby balls when they returned from their studies at French universities.
So it is no surprise that their coaching staff is populated by Frenchmen with Daniel Santamans the head coach and his sidekick Antonin, who is well aware of the problems the Romanians are facing.
"The match against Italy is the major target because, above all, victory would give us the third place needed for the qualifying place for the 2011 World Cup," he told AFP.
"As for the old players, they really annoy us! Most of them just enjoy criticising us.
"The players have had enough of it! The old players don't understand that we are playing and living in a completely different age."
Sadly for Romania a different age but no different result - a quick ticket home.
Coach
Daniel Santamans
Couldn't have a better CV having been an assistant to volatile Toulouse coaching legend Guy Noves for two years and is an excellent coach of the scrum. One of a number of Frenchmen to have run the national side in a succession of years but really faces a thankless task and rather like coaches of the Asian football sides most likely faces the red card once the tournament is over. He has been in charge since 2004 and has been responsible for the second largest win of the country's history - a 97-0 thrashing of Ukraine though not outstripping the 100-0 defeat of Bulgaria in 1976.
Key Player
Petru Balan, prop
One of the few Romanian players to regularly play first team rugby in France and for a top rate side in Biarritz. He literally will be a prop and pillar for his team at the World Cup. The 31-year-old previously played for Dinamo Bucharest and Grenoble and is regarded as one of the best non-French props in the championship. Should France's Sylvain Marconnet not make it to the World Cup he would have been one of those marked down as a replacement - sadly for the French he is Romanian but even sadder for him is that like his 2003 experience he will be exiting the tournament at the first stage.
- AFP
