Romania national rugby union team

Romania

Nickname	Stejarii (The Oaks)
Emblem	Oak leaf
Union	Federația Română de Rugby
Head coach	David Gérard
Captain	Marius Simionescu
Most caps	Florin Vlaicu (129)
Top scorer	Florin Vlaicu (1,030)
Top try scorer	Cătălin Fercu (33)
Home stadium	Stadionul Arcul de Triumf
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	20 (as of 1 July 2024)
Highest	13 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Lowest	20 (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
First international
United States 21–0 Romania (Paris, France; 26 June 1919) All military sides
Biggest win
Bulgaria 0–100 Romania (Burgas, Bulgaria; 21 September 1976)
Biggest defeat
England 134–0 Romania (London, England; 17 November 2001)
World Cup
Appearances	9 (First in 1987)
Best result	Pool stage (1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2023)
Medal record Men's rugby union 1924 Paris Team
Website	rugbyromania.ro

The Romania national rugby union team, nicknamed Stejarii (The Oaks), has long been considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they won in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation.

France first played rugby against Romania in 1924 when they tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations championship. Romania holds with 25 matches the record for the longest unbeaten run. Although not regarded as a first-tier team in more recent times, their history includes an away draw against Ireland, and wins against four (France, Italy, Scotland, Wales) of the other Six Nations Championship teams.

Romania played in every Rugby World Cup through to 2015, but were disqualified from the 2019 Rugby World Cup after fielding an ineligible player during the qualification process. In the 2023 Rugby World Cup which saw the teams return to the tournament, Romania was in Pool B and finished bottom; losing all of their matches.

History

Early history

Romania at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France

The game itself was introduced by students returning with rugby balls from their studies in Paris to form clubs such as Stadiul Roman from 1913 onwards. Seventeen other teams would be formed in the capital, Bucharest.

Romania's first international was played against the US in 1919. France first officially played rugby union against Romania in May 1924 when they tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations Championship (now the Six Nations). France were victorious by 59 points to 3.

Romania were one of three teams who entered the 1924 Olympics in Paris. France won 59–3, scoring 13 tries including four by the fine Stade Francais winger Adolphe Jaureguy. The United States then defeated Romania 39–0. Romania finishing third claimed the bronze medal. The Federaţia Română de Rugby was formed in 1931. In 1939 a team was formed in Braşov at an aircraft factory. This was the first team outside Bucharest.

Post-World War II

Viorel Morariu (right) captained Romania in the 1950s and early 1960s

Alex Penciu, one of Romania's greatest players in the 1960s.

The Oaks starting lineup that beat France 15–0 in November 1980.

The Oaks before a test match against Wales in 1983.

A generation of French school trained coaches from late 1940s, and 1950s built a system and led the national team to success of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In this era Romania began to compete more regularly against the major nations. Their first win over France came in 1960 in Bucharest, in a tour match won by 11–5. In 1974 Romania won against France 15–10 in Bucharest, and the FIRA – Association of European Rugby championship. In 1975 Romania went for an 8-game tour to New Zealand, concluding in Wellington with a 10–10 draw against the Junior All Blacks. Exposure to international rugby developed the country's game and they began to form their own distinctive style of play, built around strong, bruising packs. That Romania was emerging as a real force on the world stage became clear on their 1979 Romania rugby union tour of Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, in an unofficial, non-cap international. The Oaks led going into the dying minutes, when only a last-gasp drop goal from Gareth Davies gave a narrow 13–12 victory for Wales. The improvement continued in 1980, when Romania crushed the French in a record 15–0 win in Bucharest. A trip to Lansdowne Road in the 1980 Romania rugby union tour of Ireland then yielded a 13–13 draw against Ireland in another unofficial, non-cap match.

In the 1980s the country boasted more than 12,000 players in 110 clubs. Home nations sides began to award international caps for matches against Romania in 1981; Scotland were the first to do so when Romania visited them on their 1981 tour, Scotland winning the international by 12 points to 6. Wales travelled to Bucharest in November 1983 and were totally overwhelmed, falling to a 24–6 defeat. Romania's first win over Scotland came in Bucharest in 1984 and their first away win against Five Nations opposition came in 1988 against Wales; 15–9 at Cardiff Arms Park.

Their national side beat Wales (twice – 1983: 24–6 in Romania, 1988: 15–9 in Wales), Scotland (the 1984 Grand Slam side 28–22 in Romania), France (twice 1980: 15–0 in Romania, 1982: 13–9 in Romania) and drew with Ireland (13–13, in 1980, at Dublin). In 1981, they lost to the All Blacks 14–6 but had two tries disallowed. Many felt it was wrong for the rugby union powers to fail to bring them into top-flight competition. Romania beat Zimbabwe 21–20 in their first ever Rugby World Cup match in 1987 but did not win any other games and failed to progress beyond the group stage.

After the collapse of Communism

However, with the deterioration of the domestic political and economic situation in the country in the 1990s, Romanian rugby union suffered; the two leading rugby union teams – Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest, represented the police and the army respectively, so their state funding fell.

Post-revolution, Romanian rugby union was still alive and kicking. In 1990 they recorded a prestigious win to date by beating France 12–6 on French soil for the first time. The following year they beat Scotland 18–12. At the 1991 World Cup they beat Fiji 17–15 and as recently as the 1995 World Cup, Romania held the eventual winners South Africa to a highly respectable 21–8.

The professionalism that followed immediately upon the heels of that World Cup was the undoing of the sport in Romania. Approximately 200 Romanian players are thought to be playing in France and Italy. It was not just playing numbers that suffered, but a whole generation of potential referees and administrators was lost to the game. By 1994 Romania's rugby fortunes had declined sharply, when a Welsh team travelled to Bucharest for an uncapped international the visitors came away with a 16–9 win. In 1997 the Romanians toured Wales. They lost 36–21 to Wales A at Pontypridd and 70–21 in a test held in Wrexham. At the 1999 World Cup Romania could again only manage a single win 27–25 against the United States.

The new millennium

Romania plays its home games at the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest.

Romania playing Ireland at Lansdowne Road in 2005.

In 2000, Romania won the first European Nations Cup by a large margin, recording victories in all four matches. By 2001, Romania had been caught by the likes of Georgia who defeated them to take the 2001 European Nations Cup, crowned with a decisive 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest. The national side lost to England by 134–0 in 2001 and Dinamo Bucharest lost 151–0 to Saracens in the European Rugby Shield. Several French-based players refused to turn up for the England debacle simply because their clubs refused to pay them for the week. Players in that Romanian squad were getting £30 a day in expenses while England's top earners scooped £6,000 for their afternoon's work.

In January 2002, Bernard Charreyre was appointed coach of the national team both supplied by and paid by the French Rugby Federation (FFR). Under Charreyre (known by The Oaks as 'Little Napoleon'), the Oaks' decline has been stopped and the team has started to slowly climb from the basement of international rugby union. With a change of format in the European Nations Cup, Romania started in 2002 trailing Georgia due to the inclusion of 2001 results. The Oaks won all of the remaining five games, including a hard-fought 31–23 victory in Tbilisi to win the tournament. They qualified for the World Cup in 2003, where they beat Namibia and lost to Ireland (45–17), after an honourable display, and then to Australia (90–8) and Argentina (50–3). Charreyre was dismissed after the World Cup as the Romanian Federation was not satisfied by the World Cup performance and decided not to renew his contract. Three other French coaches followed: first, Phillipe Sauton, for a very short period, Robert Antonin as a temporary stand-in and then Daniel Santamans.

In the 2003–2004 European Nations Cup, Portugal were surprise 16–15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves on the top of the 2003 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania seemed back on track (36–6 against Portugal in Constanţa), but went down 24–33 to Russia in Krasnodar following allegations of players having been doped. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19–18 win over Russia in Lisbon. In 2004, the Romanians scored a narrow 25–24 victory over Italy, their first victory to date over a Six Nations Championship side.

In 2005 Romania was given 'second tier' status by the IRB and replaced Russia in the Super Powers Cup. The USA beat a Romanian team stripped of their France-based players 23–16 in the third place play-off. The 2005–06 European Nations Cup also served as a qualifying group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Romania triumphed despite finishing level on points with Georgia.

Romania qualified for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, finishing at the top of their pool during the Round 5 of the European qualifying tournaments. Romania won their first qualifying match on 7 October, defeating Georgia in Bucharest 20–8. Their 43–20 win over Spain in Madrid on 14 October ensured that they qualified directly for the World Cup in 2007. In June 2007, Romania hosted the IRB Nations Cup in Bucuresti. In the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, Romania won a bonus point in the 18–24 loss to Italy and to win a second game with Portugal by a narrow margin (14–10), but suffered heavy losses to Scotland (42–0) and New Zealand (85–8).

On 21 March 2009, Romania lost 22–21 at home to Portugal, leaving them with an uphill struggle to qualify for the 2011 World Cup – qualification for which is determined by performances in the European Nations Cup in 2009 and 2010. Romania went unbeaten, with a draw at Russia, in the 2010 phase of the European Nations Cup. The Oaks' strong finish put them in third place and the final phase of the European qualification playoffs, in which they easily defeated Ukraine over two legs (94–10 on aggregate) for the European place in the Final Place Playoff for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Romania emerged as the last qualifier for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand by overcoming first Tunisia in a winner-takes-it-all game (56–13) and later Uruguay (60–33 on aggregate). Thus, the Oaks are one of only 12 teams to participate at all World Cups alongside New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina, Canada, and Japan.

In November 2016, Romania achieved home soil wins against the US, Canada and Uruguay.

In 2018, Romania finished top of the Rugby Europe Championship, meaning they qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be played in Japan in 2019. But after the conclusion of the tournament World Rugby conducted a review of player eligibility and found Romania fielded Sione Faka'osilea, who previously played for the Tonga Sevens team, which made him ineligible to play for Romania in the competition. Romania was stripped of 30 competition points, which placed them third and meant that they failed to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, with Russia taking their place.

On 29 May 2018, it was confirmed that Romania had appealed the decision. On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld, meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilst Germany advanced to round 6.

Honours

• Rugby union at the Summer Olympics
  • Bronze Medal (1): 1924
• Rugby Europe International Championships
  • Winner (10): 1968–1969, 1974–1975, 1976–1977, 1980–1981, 1982–1983, 2000, 2001–2002, 2004–2006, 2010, 2017
  • Runners-Up (14)
  • Third-Place (12)
• Antim Cup
  • Winner (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2017
• World Rugby Nations Cup
  • Winner (4): 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016

Record

Romania holds the record for the longest unbeaten run: 25 matches in between May 1959 and November 1964.

Wins against Tier 1 nations

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Status
14 April 1940	Romania	3–0	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
5 June 1960	Romania	11–5	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
10 June 1962	Romania	14–6	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
11 November 1962	Romania	3–0	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 May 1967	Romania	15–14	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1966–67 FIRA Nations Cup
1 December 1968	Romania	24–3	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1968–69 FIRA Nations Cup
25 October 1970	Italy	3–14	Romania	Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini, Rovigo	1969–70 FIRA Nations Cup
11 April 1971	Romania	32–6	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1970–71 FIRA Nations Cup
13 October 1974	Romania	15–10	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1974–75 FIRA Trophy
14 November 1976	Romania	15–12	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1976–77 FIRA Trophy
1 May 1977	Romania	69–0	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1976–77 FIRA Trophy
22 April 1979	Romania	44–0	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1978–79 FIRA Trophy
23 November 1980	Romania	15–0	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1980–81 FIRA Trophy
12 April 1981	Romania	35–9	Italy	Brăila	1980–81 FIRA Trophy
31 October 1982	Romania	13–9	France	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1982–83 FIRA Trophy
10 April 1983	Romania	13–6	Italy	Buzău	1982–83 FIRA Trophy
12 November 1983	Romania	24–6	Wales	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
20 May 1984	Romania	28-22	Scotland	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 April 1985	Romania	7–6	Italy	Brașov	1984–85 FIRA Trophy
12 April 1987	Romania	9–3	Italy	Constanța	1985–87 FIRA Trophy
2 April 1988	Italy	3–12	Romania	San Siro, Milan	1987–89 FIRA Trophy
10 December 1988	Wales	9–15	Romania	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	Test Match
15 April 1989	Romania	28–4	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1987–89 FIRA Trophy
14 April 1990	Italy	9–16	Romania	Frascati	1989–90 FIRA Trophy
24 May 1990	France	9–12	Romania	Stade du Moulias, Auch	1989–90 FIRA Trophy
31 August 1991	Romania	18–12	Scotland	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 May 1994	Romania	26–12	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1992–94 FIRA Trophy
26 June 2004	Romania	25–24	Italy	Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match

European competitions

Romania's only annual tournament is a competition involving Europe's tier 2 and tier 3 national teams. From 1936 through 1938, they competed in the FIRA Tournament against France, Germany and Italy. In 1965 until 1973 the FIRA Nations Cup was formed allowing other teams to be promoted or relegated from the competition. Romania won the competition once in 1969, being the only team to defeat France.

Pre–WWII Tournament (1936–1938)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	6	6	0	0	133	48	+85	–	3
Germany	6	3	0	3	83	92	−9	–	0
Italy	5	3	0	2	75	76	−1	–	0
Romania	7	1	0	6	81	114	−33	–	0
Belgium	2	1	0	1	20	48	−28	–	0
Netherlands	2	0	0	2	8	62	−54	–	0

FIRA Nations Cup (1965–1973)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	26	25	0	1	824	198	+626	65	7
Romania	26	17	1	8	528	222	+306	51	1
Czechoslovakia	17	2	2	13	135	411	−267	16	0
Morocco	9	2	0	7	65	332	−267	13	0
Italy	13	4	1	8	86	227	−141	12	0
West Germany	10	1	1	8	81	132	−51	6	0
Spain	3	1	0	2	56	55	+1	5	0
Poland	3	0	0	3	19	132	−113	3	0
Portugal	3	0	0	3	23	108	−85	0	0

European Nations Cup (2000–present)

See also: European Nations Cup (rugby union)

Winners

Year		First Division					Lower Division Champions
		Winner	Second	Third	Relegated		Division 2	Division 3
2000		Romania	Georgia	Morocco			Russia	Czech Republic
2001		Georgia	Romania	Russia			Poland	Not played
2001–2002		Romania	Georgia	Russia	Netherlands		Czech Republic	Slovenia
2003–2004		Portugal	Romania	Georgia	Spain		Ukraine	Moldova
2004–2006		Romania	Georgia	Portugal	Ukraine		Spain	Latvia
2006–2008		Georgia	Russia	Romania	Czech Republic		Germany	Sweden
2008–2010		Georgia	Russia	Portugal	Germany		Ukraine	Lithuania
2010		Romania	Georgia	Russia
2011		Georgia	Romania	Portugal	Ukraine		Belgium	Sweden
2012		Georgia	Spain	Romania
2013		Georgia	Romania	Russia	Belgium		Germany	Netherlands
2014		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2015		Georgia	Romania	Spain	Portugal		Belgium	Estonia
2016		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2017		Romania	Georgia	Spain	–		Portugal	Czech Republic / Malta
2018		Georgia	Russia	Germany	–
2019		Georgia	Spain	Romania	Germany
2020		Georgia	Spain	Romania	Belgium		Netherlands
2021		Georgia	Romania	Portugal	–
2022		Georgia	Romania	Spain	Russia		Belgium	Sweden / Croatia
2023		Georgia	Portugal	Romania	–
2024		Georgia	Portugal	Spain	Poland

All-time table

	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	AVPPG	Pts	Champs
Georgia	100	83	4	13	3096	1151	+1945	30.96	334	11
Romania	100	72	2	26	3024	1311	+1713	30.24	288	5
Russia	85	47	3	34	2190	1788	+402	26.07	186	0
Portugal	85	35	3	47	1605	1865	−260	18.88	152	1
Spain	80	25	4	51	1575	2020	−445	19.69	145	0
Czech Republic	29	6	0	23	362	1075	−713	12.48	40	0
Germany	25	3	1	21	341	1064	−723	13.64	26	0
Netherlands	15	1	0	14	278	652	−374	18.53	17	0
Ukraine	20	1	0	19	201	998	−797	10.05	15	0
Morocco	5	3	0	2	94	69	+25	18.80	11	0
Belgium	20	2	1	17	204	412	−208	13.6	8	0

Rivalries

See also: History of rugby union matches between Georgia and Romania and Antim Cup

Romania and Georgia have enjoyed a rivalry between the two most successful teams in the European Nations Cup. The winner of the rivalry takes home the Antim Cup.

Rugby World Cup

Main article: Romania at the Rugby World Cup

Romania had competed in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987; that streak ended in 2018, when they were expelled from the 2019 tournament via points deduction for fielding ineligible players. Their best finish was with one win in 1987, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. They lost all pool matches in 1995, 2011 and 2023.

Rugby World Cup record											Qualification
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A	Squad	Head coach		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Pool stage	3	1	0	2	61	130	Squad	M. Naca		Automatically qualified
1991	Pool stage	3	1	0	2	31	64	Squad	P. Ianusevici		3	2	0	1	85	42
1995	Pool stage	3	0	0	3	14	97	Squad	M. Paraschiv		4	2	0	2	105	46
1999	Pool stage	3	1	0	2	50	126	Squad			6	4	0	2	300	127
2003	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	65	192	Squad	B. Charreyre		2	1	0	1	84	31
2007	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	40	161	Squad	D. Santamans		12	10	0	2	452	122
2011	Pool stage	4	0	0	4	44	169	Squad	R. Gontineac		12	8	1	3	376	142
2015	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	60	129	Squad	L. Howells		10	8	1	1	242	106
2019	Expelled from competing at tournament after qualification										8	6	0	2	296	106
2023	Pool stage	4	0	0	4	32	287	Squad	E. Apjok		10	6	0	4	289	232
2027	To be determined										To be determined
2031
Total	—	32	6	0	26	397	1,355	—	—	67	47	2	18	2229	954

Overall

Men's World Rugby Rankings

Top 20 as of 25 November 2024

Rank	Change	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.78
2		Ireland	090.78
3		New Zealand	090.36
4		France	088.51
5		Argentina	084.97
6		Scotland	083.34
7		England	082.31
8		Australia	081.52
9		Fiji	080.07
10		Italy	078.64
11		Wales	074.01
12		Georgia	073.85
13		Japan	072.95
14		Samoa	072.68
15		United States	070.02
16		Portugal	068.82
17	1	Uruguay	067.06
18	1	Spain	065.98
19		Tonga	065.46
20		Romania	063.01
21		Chile	061.72
22		Hong Kong	059.49
23		Canada	059.18
24		Netherlands	058.56
25		Russia	058.06
26		Namibia	057.87
27		Zimbabwe	057.16
28		Brazil	056.53
29		Belgium	056.51
30		Switzerland	056.04

Romania's historical rankings

See or edit source data.

Source: World Rugby
Graph updated to 25 November 2024

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Romania national XV at test level up until 23 November 2024, updated after match with Uruguay.

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	9	0	9	0	0.00%	114	341	−227
Argentina XV	5	4	1	0	80%	113	74	+39
Australia	3	0	3	0	0.00%	20	189	−169
Belgium	9	9	0	0	100%	447	104	+343
Brazil	2	2	0	0	100%	78	26	+52
Bulgaria	2	2	0	0	100%	170	3	+167
Canada	10	7	3	0	70%	195	204	−9
Chile	2	2	0	0	100%	57	34	+23
Czech Republic	6	6	0	0	100%	307	53	+254
Czechoslovakia	18	17	0	1	94.44%	349	105	+244
East Germany	13	12	0	1	92.31%	393	69	+324
England	5	0	5	0	0.0%	24	335	−311
Fiji	3	1	2	0	33.33%	42	70	−28
France	50	8	40	2	16%	462	1315	−853
France A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	20	−4
France XV	5	0	5	0	0.00%	30	153	−123
Georgia	29	9	29	1	31.03%	452	660	−208
Germany	11	6	5	0	54.55%	367	158	+209
Ireland	10	0	10	0	0.00%	110	472	−362
Ireland XV	1	0	0	1	0.90%	13	13	+0
Emerging Ireland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	10	31	−21
Italy	44	16	25	3	36.36%	654	711	−57
Italy A	4	2	2	0	50%	65	87	−22
Emerging Italy	2	2	0	0	100%	43	26	+17
Japan	6	1	5	0	16.67%	119	152	−33
Japan XV	1	1	0	0	100%	30	25	+5
Morocco	8	7	1	0	87.5%	342	56	+286
Namibia	6	5	1	0	83.33%	158	66	+92
Netherlands	9	9	0	0	100%	390	73	+317
New Zealand	2	0	2	0	0.00%	14	99	−85
New Zealand XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	30	60	−30
Junior All Blacks	1	0	0	1	0.00%	10	10	+0
Poland	18	16	2	0	88.89%	601	178	+423
Portugal	29	24	5	0	82.76%	884	400	+484
Russia	24	16	7	1	66.67%	580	347	+233
Samoa	3	2	1	0	66.67%	49	59	−10
Scotland	14	2	12	0	15.38%	192	559	−367
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	18	21	−3
South Africa	2	0	2	0	0.00%	8	97	−89
Emerging Springboks	2	0	2	0	0.00%	20	86	−66
Soviet Union	15	12	3	0	80%	251	153	+98
Spain	40	35	5	0	87.5%	1148	482	+666
Tonga	6	3	3	0	50%	136	144	−8
Tunisia	5	4	1	0	80%	189	42	+147
Ukraine	7	7	0	0	100%	400	43	+357
United States	10	3	7	0	30%	143	260	−117
Uruguay	14	10	3	1	71.43%	375	211	+164
Wales	8	2	6	0	25%	96	342	−246
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	13	−1
West Germany	9	8	1	0	88.89%	199	69	+130
Zimbabwe	4	4	0	0	100%	123	84	+39
Total	491	276	203	12	56.21%	11,048	9,384	+1664

Players

Current squad

On 29 October, Romania named a 38-player squad for their 2024 November internationals.

Head Coach: David Gérard

• Caps Updated: 23 November 2024

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Florin Bărdașu	Hooker	(1991-09-23) 23 September 1991	17	Rapid
Ștefan Buruiană	Hooker	(2003-03-03) 3 March 2003	5	Castres
Tudor Butnariu	Hooker	(1995-03-12) 12 March 1995	15	Steaua București
Ovidiu Cojocaru	Hooker	(1996-11-19) 19 November 1996	36	Dinamo București
Robert Irimescu	Hooker	(1996-03-01) 1 March 1996	12	Baia Mare
Vasile Balan	Prop	(1992-02-07) 7 February 1992	26	Steaua București
Ciprian Chiriac	Prop	(1993-03-21) 21 March 1993	5	Timișoara
Gheorghe Gajion	Prop	(1992-11-13) 13 November 1992	11	Stade Montois
Iulian Harțig	Prop	(1998-10-11) 11 October 1998	21	Dinamo București
George Ilincuta	Prop		0	Steaua București
Cosmin Manole	Prop	(1995-10-22) 22 October 1995	7	Dinamo București
Alexandru Savin	Prop	(1995-02-12) 12 February 1995	39	Rapid
Virgil Ghenea	Lock	(2001-04-16) 16 April 2001	1	Poli Iasi
Yanis Horvat	Lock	(2003-05-08) 8 May 2003	4	Albi
Ștefan Iancu	Lock	(1998-07-01) 1 July 1998	15	Baia Mare
Marius Iftimiciuc	Lock	(1997-08-13) 13 August 1997	28	Carcassonne
Nicolaas Immelman	Lock	(1993-06-18) 18 June 1993	5	Baia Mare
Andrei Mahu	Lock	(1991-09-03) 3 September 1991	8	Massy
Vlad Neculau	Lock	(1998-01-07) 7 January 1998	24	Timișoara
David Trausan	Lock		0	Rapid
Kemal Altinok	Back row	(2001-10-19) 19 October 2001	1	Timișoara
Cristi Boboc	Back row	(1995-10-09) 9 October 1995	14	Steaua București
Cristi Chirică	Back row	(1997-04-09) 9 April 1997	39	Dinamo București
Eduard Cioroaba	Back row		0	Dinamo București
Adrian Mitu	Back row		5	Charente
Florian Roșu	Back row	(1993-04-20) 20 April 1993	1	Baia Mare
Dragoș Ser	Back row	(1999-03-04) 4 March 1999	23	Timișoara
Kamil Sobota	Back row	(1992-03-31) 31 March 1992	13	Dinamo București
Matthew Tweddle	Back row	(1992-06-01) 1 June 1992	1	Steaua București
Vladut Bocanet	Scrum-half	(1999-04-28) 28 April 1999	1	Baia Mare
Alin Conache	Scrum-half	(2002-05-07) 7 May 2002	19	Steaua București
Gabriel Rupanu	Scrum-half	(1997-09-28) 28 September 1997	34	Timișoara
Daniel Plai	Fly-half	(1994-09-05) 5 September 1994	31	Timișoara
Hinckley Vaovasa	Fly-half	(1998-09-24) 24 September 1998	26	Dinamo București
Alexandru Bucur	Centre	(1994-04-24) 24 April 1994	19	Timișoara
Taylor Gontineac	Centre	(2000-07-16) 16 July 2000	11	Béziers
Mihai Graure	Centre	(2003-01-09) 9 January 2003	8	Dinamo București
Alexandru Prescura	Centre		0	Rapid
Fonovai Tangimana	Centre	(1989-10-25) 25 October 1989	33	Dinamo București
Jason Tomane	Centre	(1995-03-04) 4 March 1995	23	Baia Mare
Rafael Florea	Wing		0	Steaua București
Tevita Manumua	Wing	(1993-02-12) 12 February 1993	14	Timișoara
Ovidiu Neagu	Wing	(2001-03-06) 6 March 2001	6	Dinamo București
Taliaʻuli Sikuea	Wing	(1995-07-14) 14 July 1995	5	Baia Mare
Corrado Stetco	Wing	(2001-11-30) 30 November 2001	2	Timișoara
Paul Popoaia	Fullback	(2000-05-29) 29 May 2000	19	Baia Mare
Marius Simionescu	Fullback	(1997-09-05) 5 September 1997	40	Timișoara

Notable players

Mircea Paraschiv captained Romania from 1976 to 1987.

Florică Murariu was one of a number of Romanian rugby internationals who were killed during the Romanian Revolution in December 1989.

Romania's current top point scorer and most capped player of all time, Florin Vlaicu.

The 1924 Romania Olympic team are the only Romanian inductee to have been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. Nicolae Mărăscu captained the Hall of Fame side. The highest point of Mărăscu's career was at the 1924 tournament, earning Romania the bronze medal. He played as a centre and had five caps, without ever scoring, since his first match, in 1919, a 48–5 loss to France, in Paris, for the Inter-Allied Games, and his last, at 22 May 1927, in a 21–5 win over Czechoslovakia, in Bratislava.

Iulian Dumitraș was Romania's main man. Dumitraș was known to be one of the Oaks' most gifted playmakers, with an accurate kicking boot and a penchant for sparking attacks. Having made his test debut in 2002, he went on to start in every match a Rugby World Cup 2007 in France, bringing plenty of experience to the nation. The then standing 1.88m and weighing in a 110 kg, Dumitraș was a punishing runner when he chimes into the line on attack, which he looked to do often, and he provided a solid and dependable last obstacle in defence.

Sorin Socol is regarded by many good judges as the then best player in the current squad and was one of the rocks of the Romanian forward pack. He has captained the most matches to date for Romania, between 2003 and 2011. A total of 61 tests, 36 of them were as captain. He captained Romania for the first time on 30 October 2003 during the 2003 Rugby World Cup match against Namibia. He went on and featured in the 2007 World Cup squad and eventually retired from all international rugby after the 2011 tournament. Socol had one of Romania's highest winning percentage as a captain of 63.88.

Florin Vlaicu is Romania's top ever point scorer and also the most capped player appearing in 104 tests so far. Vlaicu made his international debut in 2006 as a substitute against Ukraine. He played for Romania in the IRB Nations Cup and in their 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying before appearing for them in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played two Tests at the World Cup as a substitute against both Scotland and the All Blacks. He also played at the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups.

Cristian Petre is Romania's most recognized player after dominating the lock position for eleven years. He is one of Romania's most capped player with a total of 92 matches and a career span that started in 2001 against England and ended in 2012 against Italy. Petre has featured in three Rugby World Cups, first in 2003, going on to feature in 2007 and his last being in 2011. Petre has scored a total of six tries and had winning percentage of 55.43.

Cătălin Fercu is generally regarded as one of Romania's true global superstar of rugby union. Fercu is Romania's top try scorers. He had quickly made appearances on the international stage at a very young age and played against France and Scotland in the Autumn internationals in 2006. He also scored a try against the French. Fercu helped guide Romania to the 2007 Rugby World Cup as he played in the qualifier matches including the vital games against Georgia and Spain and scored a try against Spain in the game that sealed their qualification to the Rugby World Cup. Fercu was a late withdrawal from their Rugby World Cup squad in 2011 because he was not prepared to fly all the way to New Zealand. The Romanian side arrived in Christchurch to prepare for their first game of the tournament against Scotland in Invercargill on 10 September without Fercu, who failed to get on the plane when it left Romania.

Another one of the Oaks greatest players are Romeo Gontineac, represented Romania in four Rugby World Cups from 1995 to 2007. The hard running centre, who became the national coach in 2010, was capped 75 times for the nation, scoring 13 tries and a drop goal. During his career he played professionally in Romania, South Africa and France.

Members of the 1924 Olympics team

Nicolae Anastasiade Dumitru Armășel Gheorghe Benția J. Cociociaho Constantin Crătunescu Teodor Florian Petre Ghițulescu Ion Gîrleșteanu

Octav Luchide Jean Henry Manu Nicolae Mărăscu Teodor Marian Sorin Mihăilescu Paul Nedelcovici Iosif Nemeș Eugen Sfetescu

Mircea Sfetescu Soare Sterian Mircea Stroescu Atanasie Tănăsescu Mihai Vardală Paul Vidrașcu Dumitru Volvoreanu

Coaches

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Romanian national team:

Name	Nationality	Role
Iustin Ilioiu	ROU	Manager
David Gérard	FRA	Head coach
Jon Callard	ENG	Attack coach
Simon Maisuradze	GEO	Forwards coach
Raphaël Francois Saint-André	FRA	Assistant coach with the three quarters and skills
Michaël Dallery	FRA	Head trainer with physical training
Paul Cere-Labourdette	FRA	Second coach with physical training & GPS
Daniel Carpo	ROU	Second coach with physical training & GPS
Daniel Răzvan Wanya Crîngu	ROU	Doctor
Marius Tudosi	ROU	Physiotherapist
David Popa	ROU	Video analyst

Former coaches

Years	Coach
1961–1965	Petre Cosmănescu
1965–1968	Viorel Morariu
1968–1972	Petre Cosmănescu
1973–1974	Valeriu Irimescu
1974–1981	Petre Cosmănescu
1985–1987	Theodor Rădulescu
1987–1989	Mihai Naca
1989–1990	Theodor Rădulescu
1991	Peter Ianusevici
1992–1994	Theodor Rădulescu
1994–1999	Mircea Paraschiv
1999–2001	Eduard Suciu
2002–2003	Bernard Charreyre
2004	Phillipe Sauton
2004	Robert Antonin
2005–2007	Daniel Santamans
2007–2008	Marin Moț
2008–2009	Ellis Meachen
2009	Marin Moț
2009–2010	Serge Lairle
2010–2011	Romeo Gontineac
2012	Haralambie Dumitraș
2013–2018	Lynn Howells
2018	Thomas Lièvremont
2019	Marius Țincu (interim)
2019–2022	Andy Robinson
2022–2023	Eugen Apjok
2024–	David Gérard

Individual all-time records

Most caps

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Won	Lost	Draw	%
1	Florin Vlaicu	Centre	2006–2022	129	103	26	79	47	3	62.89
2	Cătălin Fercu	Fullback	2005–2020	109	107	2	73	33	3	68.34
3	Florin Surugiu	Scrum-half	2008–2024	108	68	40	64	43	1	62.35
4	Mihai Macovei	Flanker	2006–2023	104	93	11	60	43	1	58.98
5	Valentin Calafeteanu	Scrum-half	2004–2019	100	54	46	61	37	2	62.00
6	Cristian Petre	Lock	2001–2012	92	83	9	50	40	2	55.43
7	Csaba Gál	Centre	2005–2015	88	65	23	49	37	2	56.81
8	Valentin Popârlan	Lock	2007–2020	77	50	27	48	29	0	62.33
9	Romeo Gontineac	Centre	1995–2008	76	75	1	35	41	0	46.05
	Adrian Lungu	Centre	1980–1995	76	75	1	40	36	0	52.63
	Lucian Sîrbu	Scrum-half	1996–2011	76	62	14	40	34	2	53.94

Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries
1	Cătălin Fercu	Fullback	2005–2020	109	107	2	171	33
2	Gabriel Brezoianu	Centre	1996–2007	71	67	4	142	28
3	Mihai Macovei	Flanker	2006–2023	104	93	11	110	22
4	Ionut Dumitru	Centre	2013–2022	55	49	6	85	17
5	Ovidiu Tonița	Flanker	2000–2016	73	67	6	75	15
6	Petre Mitu	Scrum-half	1996–2009	41	36	5	339	14
	Cristian Săuan	Wing	1999–2007	37	32	5	70	14
	Marius Țincu	Hooker	2002–2012	53	49	4	70	14
	Florin Vlaicu	Centre	2006–2022	129	103	26	1025	14
9	4 players on 13 tries

Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1	Florin Vlaicu	Centre	2006–2022	129	1321	14	173	203	4
2	Dănuț Dumbravă	Fly-half	2002–2015	73	389	3	73	74	2
3	Petre Mitu	Scrum-half	1996–2009	41	339	14	55	53	0
4	Ionuţ Tofan	Fly-half	1997–2007	60	316	12	53	46	4
5	Valentin Calafeteanu	Scrum-half	2004–2019	100	233	11	32	37	1
6	Neculai Nichitean	Fly-half	1990–1997	28	201	0	18	45	10
7	Ionel Melinte	Fullback	2018–present	29	176	9	37	19	0
8	Cătălin Fercu	Fullback	2005–2020	109	171	33	1	1	0
9	Gelu Ignat	Fly-half	1986–1992	25	148	1	15	32	6
10	Gabriel Brezoianu	Centre	1996–2007	71	142	28	1	0	0

Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most matches as captain

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Draw	%	Pts	Tries
1	Mihai Macovei	Flanker	2012–2023	72	47	24	1	68.10	105	21
2	Sorin Socol	Lock	2001–2011	36	22	12	2	63.88	25	5
3	Stelian Burcea	Flanker	2009–2018	19	13	6	0	68.42	15	3
4	Mircea Paraschiv	Scrum-half	1980–1987	18	7	10	1	41.66	16	4
5	Haralambie Dumitras	Number 8	1989–1993	14	5	9	0	35.71	20	5
	Romeo Gontineac	Centre	1999–2003	14	4	10	0	28.57	5	1
7	Tiberiu Brînză	Number 8	1994–1997	13	1	12	0	7.69	5	1
8	Marius Țincu	Hooker	2007–2012	11	5	6	0	45.45	0	0
9	Costica Mersoiu	Number 8	2007–2008	10	6	4	0	60.00	5	1
10	Alin Petrache	Number 8	1999–2004	7	3	4	0	42.85	0	0

Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Ionuţ Tofan	Fly-half	32	2	8	2	0	Spain	Iași	05/10/2002
2	Virgil Popisteanu	Fly-half	27	0	12	1	0	Portugal	Bucharest	13/04/1996
	Petre Mitu	Scrum-half	27	1	2	6	0	Portugal	Lisbon	04/02/2001
4	Ionel Rotaru	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Portugal	Bucharest	13/04/1996
5	Florin Vlaicu	Fullback	24	1	8	0	1	Czech Republic	Bucharest	22/03/2008
	Florin Vlaicu	Centre	24	1	2	5	0	Russia	Bucharest	09/02/2013
7	Gelu Ignat	Fly-half	22	0	5	4	0	Netherlands	Treviso	30/09/1990
	Petre Mitu	Scrum-half	22	1	4	3	0	Russia	Bârlad	18/03/2001
	Ionuţ Tofan	Fly-half	22	1	1	5	0	Russia	Krasnodar	24/03/2002
10	5 players on 21 points

Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Gheorgie Rascanu	Flanker	20	5	0	0	0	Morocco	Bucharest	02/05/1972
	Cornel Popescu	Wing	20	5	0	0	0	Portugal	Bârlad	18/10/1986
	Ionel Rotaru	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Portugal	Bucharest	13/04/1996
4	Petre Motrescu	Wing	16	4	0	0	0	Italy	Bucharest	01/05/1977
	Gheorghe Solomie	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Belgium	Brussels	04/10/1997
	Lucian Colceriu	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Poland	Bucharest	02/05/1998
7	11 players on 3 tries

Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Media coverage

Romania's Rugby Europe Championship matches, mid year internationals and end of year internationals are currently televised by TVR.

Kits and symbols

Romania usually wears a yellow shirt with blue shorts and red socks as home uniform, with the exceptions being at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, where a light blue shirt with the Royal coat of arms was worn, as well in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, where a blue uniform was worn in all of the matches. Since 2014, the jerseys are adorned with Romanian traditional embroidering motifs and Dacian patterns.

The origins of the oak leaf as symbol for the Romanian team date from 1979, after former Romanian international player Viorel Morariu and then-president of Federația Română de Rugby, decided, with the consultation of specialists, that an oak leaf would be the team emblem (as during the touris in the British Isles and Ireland, the Communist coat of arms painted on the Romanian players' shirts became unrecognisable due to the rain). The Latin word for oak, "robur", also meant "strength" in that same language. In 1980, a new badge, a shield with an oak leaf (which made the Romanian team be nicknamed "Stejarii", which means "the oaks") and the acronym "FRR" on the top. The adoption of said emblem could be also seen as an act of defiance towards the then-ruling regime in Romania, whose approval was given to the Romanian federations's requests to be affiliated to the IRFB. After the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the oak leaf was seen without the shield, usually accompanied by the inscription "Rugby Romania".

Kit suppliers

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1919–1985	No supplier	No shirt sponsor
1985–1988	Adidas
1988–1989	Bukta
1989–1993	Adidas	Rank Xerox
1994–1996	Gilbert	No shirt sponsor
1996–1997	Puma AG
1997–2001	Gilbert	No shirt sponsor
2002		Petrom
2003–2008	O'Neills	Orange
2009		No shirt sponsor
2010		CEC Bank
2011	KooGa
2012	Tall Ball
2012	Samurai Sportswear (worn in the 2012 end of the year internationals)
2013–2016	BLK
2016–2019	Mizuno
2020	Tall Ball
2021	Macron
2021		Stanleybet (worn in the 2021 mid-year internationals)
2021–		No shirt sponsor
2023		Kaufland

See also

• Rugby union in Romania
• Romanian Rugby Federation
• List of Romania national rugby union players
• Romania national rugby sevens team
• Romania women's national rugby sevens team
• Romania women's national rugby union team
• Romania national under-20 rugby union team
• Sport in Romania

Further reading

• Bath, Richard (1997). The Complete Book of Rugby. London: Sevenoaks. ISBN 978-1-8620-0013-1.
• Ravagnani, Luciano; Fadda, Pierluigi (2007). Storia del Rugby Mondiale dalle origini ad oggi (2nd ed.). Milan: Editrice SEP. ISBN 978-8-8871-1092-0.
• Zamfir, Constantin (2010). Povestea naționalei de rugby continuă: palmaresul revăzut și completat (3rd ed.). Bucharest: Editura Paco. ISBN 978-6-0680-0654-3.
• Garcia, Henri (2013). La Fabuleuse Histoire du rugby. Paris: La Martinière. ISBN 978-2-7324-5456-6.
• Moldoveanu, Traian (2016). Rugby: Istorie românească, Vol. 1 1908-1982. Editura Scripta. ISBN 978-9-7382-3855-8.
• Moldoveanu, Traian (2018). Rugby: Istorie românească, Vol. 2 1983-2018. Editura Scripta.

External links

• Official website (in Romanian)