Romania fan view: A defensive bonus point or a close defeat would be legendary

The perspective of a Romanian rugby fan might not be easy to understand for an Irishman. 

After all, why even bother supporting a team that could end up losing all its matches at the Rugby World Cup, with some potential heavy defeats along the way?

First of all, these matches are a rare opportunity that Romania only gets once every four years. Due to the closed nature of international rugby, we rarely play any tests against Tier 1 teams. In fact, the last time it happened was back in 2006.

For a team like Ireland, the group phase matches are mostly just a glorified warm-up, a final preparation for the big show of the knock-out stages. For Romania, they are the reward after four years of hard work, a chance to play against some real opposition.

The Oaks were very close to an upset win at the last World Cups. In 2007, some questionable refereeing decisions prevented us from beating Italy. In 2011 at Invercargill, our forwards demolished the Scottish pack and were just ten minutes away from a huge upset win.

Despite these results, Romania got no proper Tests to prepare for this competition. Between World Cups, we mostly play against the likes of Portugal or Russia in the second tier of European rugby. But at least there will be another chance to play against Italy in the group stage this year.

The proud tradition of Romanian rugby is also important to us. Romania is the only of the minor rugby nations that qualified for every edition of the Rugby World Cup. This is a huge achievement considering that rugby is only a minor sport here and Romania has less than 1,000 registered senior players. It’s passion that drives these players because a rugby career brings little fame or wealth in a country where football is king and numerous other sports are more popular.

For the fans of a tier 2 nation, there is something to be proud of even after a massive defeat. We all remember when hooker Marius Tincu (now a forwards coach at the national team) scored a try against the All Blacks in 2007, even if Romania lost the match 85 to 8. Instead of playing damage control to try to limit the score, our boys did their best to attack and score against the world’s best team.

Realistically, the Oaks have to target the matches vs Canada and Italy at this Rugby World Cup. We have won against Canada lately but it will be a balanced game and victory is not certain. Romania could beat Italy on a good day but the scheduling this year doesn’t help, with a short turnaround after the Canada match.

Tired or not, the boys will try to prove that the gap between the bottom of the Six Nations and the rest of Europe isn’t as big as most people think. And if Romania defeats Italy, maybe promotion and relegation from the Six Nations tournament will finally be considered.

I have tickets for tonight’s game and the match with Ireland. Of course, Romania is unlikely to win any of them. We will be there to support our players even if they lose, they will surely do their best and the Romanian forwards can trouble any pack in the world.

A positive result in these two matches, even a defensive bonus point or a close defeat, would be legendary. And I hope to be there to witness it.

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