By Mitch Phillips
LILLE, France (Reuters) – Romania started their World Cup with a bang when Gabriel Rupanu scored a try after three minutes against Ireland and they finished with a battling defeat versus Tonga but in between it has been a chastening experience.
It was always going to be a monumental task to get anything from a pool containing three of the world’s top five teams, and a tough fourth in Tonga, but Romania got blown away again and again, struggling to control even short periods of matches.
That first game against Ireland turned into an 82-8 thrashing which they followed by losing 76-0 to the Springboks then 84-0 to Scotland.
They showed much more grit against a lively Tonga on Sunday, battling back from 21-3 down to 21-17 at halftime before eventually falling away to lose 45-24.
It was hardly the uplifting return the sport Romania needed after they were banned from the 2019 tournament for fielding an ineligible player – the only World Cup they have missed.
The glory days of the 1970s and 80s are long gone and destined never to return as the game struggles for players and attention.
Since the game turned professional in 1995 they have managed one win against a Tier One team – edging Italy 25-24 in 2004 -and their main focus each year is trying, and usually failing, to beat Georgia in the European Nations Cup.
Unsurprisingly they rank near the bottom of almost all of this World Cup’s performance metrics.
However, while they might be expected to struggle for line breaks or metres gained, a shocking average of around 48 missed tackles per match is hard to justify at any level and a high of 287 points conceded is tough to swallow.
The sport is in trouble in the country from top to bottom.
“We need more tough and intense games,” said coach Eugen Apjok on Sunday, echoing the lament of every Tier Two coach in France and at just about every previous World Cup.
“Fitness is an issue for us and of course it’s hard to prepare in short time. What players do at home and with their clubs has a huge impact and they need to take the right steps.
“We expected to struggle in those first three games but our lack of physical preparation played a part today and gave Tonga too much space. We’re not used to playing such intense games as frequently as this.”
Asked about the potentially negative impact of the thrashings his team have suffered, Apjok said the problems were much more fundamental than not having heroes to look up to.
“We are trying to attract young people but the problem is infrastructure,” he said. “There are no stadiums, no strategy – it’s very hard to attract them to rugby if they haven’t got decent facilities.”
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ken Ferris)
