Athlete of the Week – Rugby player Florin Vlaicu

World Rugby Nations Cup 2016, underway on the Triumphal Arch Stadium in Bucharest, has now reached its 11th edition.

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Newsroom, 14.06.2016, 13:22

Proving their mettle in the ongoing edition are Romania, Namibia, Argentina XV, Emerging Italy, Spain and Uruguay. Romania’s national rugby team, also dubbed the Oak Leaf Knights dominated their debut game against Namibia scoring two tries in the first half, one of which being a successful conversion of a penalty kick Romania first scored thanks to Florin Vlaicu who on 7 minutes converted a penalty kick. On 9 minutes it was also Florin Vlaicu who again converted a penalty kick, and early into the game the Romanian went 4 points up from their opponents.

Our national squad succeeded in scoring a penalty try and found themselves eight points clear from their contenders. Late into the first half Ionut Dumitru scored another try, securing an 18-nil lead for Romania. Early into the second half it was also Vlaicu who missed the opportunity to convert a penalty kick, yet on 68 minutes Vlaicu converted a penalty kick, securing a comfortable 20-nil win for Romania. Namibia managed to convert a try late into the game, but the fate of the confrontation had already been sealed.

For his excellent run in last week’s fixture against Namibia, Radio Romania International has designated Florin Vlaicu the Athlete of the Week.

29-year old Florin Vlaicu is a Bucharester, born and bred, and is 1.86 meters tall. He is basically a utility back player, meaning that he can play several positions, fly-half, inside center or full back. In Romania, Vlaicu was signed up by Steaua Bucharest, Farul Constanţa and CSM Olimpia Bucharest. Over 2013-2015, with Bucharest Wolves, Vlaicu played in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Since 2015, he has been signed up by the Italian squad Rugby Calvisano. In 2006, at the age of 20, Vlaicu made his debut with the national team, in a fixture against Ukraine at the European Nations Cup.

Florin Vlaicu participated in three editions of the World Rugby Cup, in France, in 2007, in Australia and New Zealand in 2011 and the one in Britain, in 2015. Until March 2016, Vlaicu boasts 89 caps for the national squad. Florin Vlaicu is the best scorer ever for Romania, with a record of 8 tries, 118 conversions, and 132 successfully converted penalty kicks, which earned the Romanian rugby player 702 points all told.