Romania Rugby World Cup Team Is the Highest Skilled Squad in History

Mubashar Wcs
14 min readDec 21, 2022

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The Romania Rugby World Cup team known as Stejarii, The Oaks, competes in men’s international rugby union tournaments and has long been regarded as one of Europe’s best teams outside of the Six Nations. They have competed in every Rugby World Cup with the exception of one, and they are currently in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they recently won in 2017. The Romanian Rugby Federation is in charge of running rugby union in the country.

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In a bid to rival the Five Nations championship, France and Romania played Rugby World Cup for the first time in 1924. With 25 matches, Romania holds the record for most consecutive victories. Despite not being considered a first-tier team in recent times, their history includes victories over four other Six Nations Championship teams — France, Italy, Scotland, and Wales — as well as an away, draw with Ireland.

Through 2015, Romania participated in every Rugby World Cup, but they were disqualified from the 2019 tournament because they used an ineligible player in the qualification process. From 1913 onward, rugby clubs like Stadium Roman were formed by students bringing rugby balls back from their studies in Paris. Bucharest, the capital, would host the formation of seventeen additional teams.

1919 saw the first international match between Romania and the United States. When France attempted to establish a rival to the Five Nations RWC Championship, which is now known as the Six Nations, they played Romania in their first official rugby union match in May 1924. France prevailed by a score of 59 to 3. Romania was one of three teams that qualified for the Paris Olympics in 1924.

13 tries, including four from the excellent Stade Francais winger Adolphe Jaureguy, helped France to a 59–3 victory. The US then crushed Romania 39–0. The bronze medal went to Romania, which came in third place. In 1931, the Federaţia Română de Rugby World Cup was established. In an aircraft factory in Braşov, a group was established in 1939. The first team outside of Bucharest was this one.

During the Cold War with the West, the communist regime used the Rugby World Cup union, like it did with other sports, as a tool for propaganda. Every international success was portrayed as the result of the communist ideology’s righteousness. Top players were employed by police or army sports teams like Dynamo or CSA Steaua București.

From the late 1940s to the early 1950s, a generation of French school-trained coaches [citation needed] developed a system and led the national team to success in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. During this time, Romania started competing with the major nations more frequently. Their first victory over France was in a tour match in Bucharest in 1960, in which they won 11–5. In Bucharest, Romania won the FIRA — Association of European RWC championship in 1974 by a score of 15–10 over France.

In 1975, Romania played eight games in New Zealand, drawing 10–10 with the Junior All Blacks in Wellington. The country’s game grew as a result of exposure to international rugby, and they began to develop their own distinctive style of play based on powerful, bruising packs. The 1979 Romania Rugby World Cup union tour of Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, in an unofficial, non-cap international, demonstrated that Romania was becoming a real force on the international stage.

The Oaks held a lead into the final minutes, but Wales only got a 13–12 victory thanks to a last-gasp drop goal from Gareth Davies. In 1980, when Romania beat the French by a record 15–0 score in Bucharest, the improvement continued. Another unofficial, non-cap match at Lansdowne Road in the 1980 Romania Rugby World Cup union tour of Ireland ended in a 13–13 draw against Ireland.

More than 12,000 people played for 110 teams in the country in the 1980s. Home country’s sides started to grant global cover for matches of RWC against Romania in 1981; When Romania came to Scotland on their 1981 tour, they were the first to do so, and Scotland won the international by 12 points to 6. In November 1983, Wales traveled to Bucharest and was completely dominated, losing 24–6.

In 1984, Romania defeated Scotland for the first time in Bucharest, and in 1988, they defeated Wales on the road to defeat Five Nations opponents; Cardiff Arms Park: 15–9 Wales were defeated twice by their Rugby World Cup team in 1983: Romania, 1988, 24–6: 15–9 in Wales, Scotland, which won the Grand Slam in 1984, 28–22 in Romania, and France 1982: 15–0 in Romania: 13–9 in Romania and shared a draw with Ireland 13–13 in Dublin in 1980.

They were defeated by the All Blacks 14–6 in 1981, but two tries were disallowed. Many people thought it was wrong for the powers that be in the RWC union to not allow them to compete in the top division. In their first Rugby World Cup match, Romania defeated Zimbabwe 21–20, but the team failed to advance beyond the group stage and did not win any more games.

However, the Romanian rugby union suffered in the 1990s as the country’s domestic political and economic situation deteriorated; The two leading rugby union teams, Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest were funded by the state because they represented the police and the army, respectively. Citation needed, Despite the revolution, the Romanian Rugby World Cup union continued to exist.

They won their most prestigious victory to date in 1990, defeating France 12–6 for the first time on French soil. They defeated Scotland 18 to 12 the following year. They defeated Fiji 17–15 in the 1991 World Cup, and in the 1995 World Cup, Romania held South Africa, the eventual winners, to a respectable 21–8 score. The amazing skill that followed quickly upon the impact points of that Rugby World Cup was the fixing of the game in Romania.

Roughly 200 Romanian RWC players are believed to play in France and Italy. It was playing numbers that endured, yet an entire age of possible refs and executives was lost to the game. When a Welsh team traveled to Bucharest for an uncapped international in 1994, Romania’s rugby fortunes had drastically deteriorated. The visitors won 16–9. The Romanians performed in Wales in 1997. They were defeated by Wales A by a score of 36–21 at Pontypridd and 70–21 in a test in Wrexham. Again, Romania only won one game against the United States at the 1999 World Cup, 27–25.

In Bucharest, Romania holds its home games at the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf. By a large margin, Romania won the first European Nations Cup in 2000, winning all four games. By 2001, Romania had been caught by Georgia, who defeated them to win the 2001 European Nations Rugby World Cup. Georgia won the tournament in Bucharest with a decisive 31–20 victory over Romania.

The public side lost to Britain by 134–0 in 2001 and Dinamo Bucharest lost 151–0 to Saracens in the European Rugby Safeguard. Due to their clubs’ refusal to pay them for the week, several French-based players refused to attend the England disaster. The Romanian RWC team’s players received £30 per day in expenses, while England’s highest-earning players received £6,000 for their afternoon’s work.

[Reference needed] Bernard Charreyre was appointed national team coach in January 2002. The French Rugby Federation (FFR) supplied and paid him. The Oaks’ decline has been halted under Charreyre, who The Oaks refer to as Little Napoleon, and the team has begun to slowly rise from the bottom of the international rugby union. Because the European Nations Rugby World Cup’s format changed, Romania started 2002 behind Georgia because the results from 2001 were included.

The Oaks won the tournament with a hard-fought 31–23 victory in Tbilisi, winning all five of the remaining games. In 2003, they beat Namibia to reach the World Cup, where they lost to Ireland (45–17) after an admirable performance, Australia (90–8), and Argentina (50–3). Charreyre was excused after the World Cup as the Romanian Alliance was not fulfilled by the Rugby World Cup execution and chose not to reestablish his agreement.

The next three French coaches were: Phillipe Sauton was the first, followed by Robert Antonin, who served as a temporary stand-in, and Daniel Santa men. In the 2003–2004 European Countries RWC Cup, Portugal was shocked 16–15 victory over Romania in Lisbon and introduced themselves to the highest point of the 2003 table. Romania appeared to be back on track in the second half of the competition, defeating Portugal 36–6 in Constanţa before falling 24–33 to Russia in Krasnodar due to doping allegations against players.

After that, Portugal won their first championship in Lisbon with a 19–18 victory over Russia. The Romanians won their first Six Nations Championship match against Italy in 2004 with a narrow victory of 25–24. In 2005 Romania was given ‘second level’ status by the IRB and supplanted Russia in the Super Powers Rugby World Cup. For more know about Rugby World Cup Tickets

In the third-place play-off, the USA defeated a Romanian team with no France-based players by a score of 23–16. The European Nations Cup from 2005 to 2006 also served as a group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Despite finishing on equal points with Georgia, Romania prevailed. During Round 5 of the European qualifying tournaments, Romania finished first in their pool to earn a spot at the Rugby World Cup in France in 2007.

On October 7, Romania defeated Georgia 20–8 in their first qualifying match in Bucharest. On October 14, their 43–20 victory over Spain in Madrid ensured their direct qualification for the 2007 World Cup. In June 2007, the IRB Nations RWC Cup was held in Bucuresti, Romania. In the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, Romania lost to Italy by a score of 18–24 and won a bonus point against Portugal to win a second game by a narrow margin (14–10). However, it lost heavily to Scotland (42–0) and New Zealand (85–8).

On 21 Walk 2009, Romania lost 22–21 at home to Portugal, passing on them with a difficult task to meet all requirements for the 2011 World Cup — capability for still up in the air by exhibitions in the European Countries Cup in 2009 and 2010. During the 2010 European Nations Rugby World Cup, Romania drew with Russia to keep its unbeaten record intact.

As a result of their strong finish, the Oaks advanced to the final phase of the European qualification playoffs, where they defeated Ukraine with ease over two legs (94–10 on aggregate) to secure a spot in the Final Place Playoff for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Romania defeated Tunisia in a winner-take-all match (56–13) and Uruguay (60–33) to become the final qualifier for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

As a result, the Oaks, along with New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina, Canada, and Japan, are one of only 12 teams in RWC to compete in all World Cups. In November 2016, Romania defeated Uruguay, the United States, and Canada on its own turf. Romania qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which will be held in Japan, after finishing first in the Rugby Europe Championship in 2018.

However, following the tournament’s conclusion, Rugby World Cup reviewed the eligibility of players and determined that Romania fielded Sione Faka’osilea, who had previously played for the Tonga Sevens team, was ineligible to represent Romania in the competition. Romania finished third after losing 30 competition points.

And meant that Russia took their place at the Rugby World Cup in 2019 after they failed to qualify. The appeal filed by Romania was confirmed on May 29, 2018. Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup on June 6, when the appeal was denied and the decision was upheld. Germany, on the other hand, advanced to round 6.

Romania Set to Arrival at Rugby World Cup Phase:

After it was confirmed that the Oaks have qualified for the Rugby World Cup 2023, Romania will be invited back to the biggest stage of the game the following year. The team led by Andy Robinson appeared to be set to participate in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final Qualification Tournament after finishing third in both the 2021 and 2022 Rugby Europe Championships.

However, Spain’s 10-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player in two RWC 2023 qualifying matches was upheld on appeal, and the team finished second. Romania will participate in their 10th Rugby World Cup by joining Webb Ellis Cup holders South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, and the Asia/Pacific 1 qualifier in Pool B. Until they failed to qualify for the most prestigious tournament in Rugby World Cup history three years ago, the Oaks had been annual participants.

Portugal will take Romania’s spot in the Final Qualification Tournament, having finished just two points behind them at the 2021 and 2022 Championships. The Oaks won six of their 10 Rugby World Cup Europe Championship matches in 2021 and 2022. The most significant of those victories came in their 37–27 loss to Portugal and their 38–12 victory over the Netherlands on the final weekend.

In order for Romania to defeat Portugal in February in Bucharest, they had to fight back from a 22–13 halftime deficit. But tries from Ovidiu Cojocaru, Alexandru Savin, and Andre Gorin in the second half made sure they made a big comeback. Robinson’s RWC team had a four-try lead going into the final round because they knew they needed to beat the Netherlands to get ahead of the Portuguese in the standings.

The Netherlands responded with two tries to make up the difference, but Romania once more finished strongly to secure a 26-point victory. Even though Robinson and his players were unaware of it at the time, their victory in Amsterdam ultimately secured their spot in France the following year. Now, their focus will be on competing against the best at RWC 2023.

RWC Challenger Attention:

After finishing second in the Rugby Europe qualification table, behind Georgia, Romania makes its way back to the Rugby World Cup stage. The Oaks, who was always in the tournament until Japan left in 2019, beat Zimbabwe 21–20 in their first Rugby World Cup game in May 1987. Since then, they have won five more games in seven tournament appearances, most recently against Fiji in 1991.

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The United States of America, Namibia, Portugal, and Canada have also been defeated. Although Romania has never advanced past the pool stages, they have only twice returned home without a victory in 1995 and 2011. The first RWC: The match against Zimbabwe took place on May 23, 1987, at Eden Park in Auckland.

Played 28, won 6, lost 0, lost 22, had points for 365, points against 1,068, and a win percentage of 21%. Romeo Stefan Gontineac, 14, Ovidiu Tonita. Most RWC attempts: Marius Tincu, number three Stages of the pool, Qualification for RWC 2023: The most memorable match in Europe 2.

Canada defeated Romania 15–17 at Leicester City Stadium in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Romania staged the greatest comeback in the tournament’s history by scoring 17 points without a score in the final 28 minutes after going down 15–0. Number eight Mihai Macovei went over for two late attempts, both changed over by Florin Vlaicu, whose late punishment won it for Romania.

Momentous event: The crowd erupted in yellow after Florin Vlaicu scored against Canada by hitting the ball between the posts from 40 meters out in Leicester. In addition, as the final whistle blew, the Romanian Rugby World Cup players poured onto the field full-time to commemorate their excellent victory.

Bottom line: Having failed to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the first time the team had missed the main event of the game. Stefan Romeo Gontineac: In addition to participating at Centre in the Rugby World Cup in 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007, Gontineac almost orchestrated a surprise victory over Scotland in 2011 as head coach.

Together with Record-Breaker, he holds the all-time tournament appearance record for Romania: At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the official attendance of 89,297 for Romania’s match against Ireland at Wembley Stadium broke the previous tournament record by 248. That had happened the week before when Argentina and New Zealand RWC played at the same venue, and there were 89,019.

Have you heard: At the Rugby World Cup 2003, Romania took part in the first-ever test that was played in Tasmania. The Oaks defeated Namibia 37–7 in their final pool match there, scoring five tries. Quote: After Romania’s incredible comeback victory over Canada, head coach Lynn Howells told reporters, “I don’t think it was ever in doubt really, was it?” with a grin.

However, one additional European nation always attends the party. As a second-tier European Rugby World Cup nation, Romania, which is in Ireland’s pool this time, has participated in every World Cup since its inception in 1987. They have never advanced from their pools, never winning more than one match at any given edition of the tournament, and they have never defeated any of the traditional top nations.

Romania has a long history of rugby, some of which was helped along by the former Communist regime before professionalism and the fall of that regime took hold. They lost to Ireland in 1999 and 2003, but their best performance against a traditional rugby power came in 2011 when the RWC played Scotland until the very end in Invercargill, New Zealand. As you can see above, the converted try by then-№8 Steaua Bucuresti Daniel Carpo gave the Romanians a 24–21 lead with a quarter of an hour remaining.

In the end, Scotland Rugby World Cup won that first match 34–24, but only because Simon Danielli scored two tries in the last five minutes to save Scotland. At the time, Scotland’s coach Andy Robinson compared it to Andy Murray winning five sets in tennis. Off the Ball’s Cian Murtagh has provided an excellent in-depth analysis of Romania’s threat, allowing you to accurately gauge their threat against Ireland. However, Joe Schmidt will also want to ensure that Ireland does not endure an experience that is as uncomfortable for his team as the Scots did four years ago.

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