Radio Romania International Sports Club

Rugby

Florin Orban, 09.08.2023, 13:45

The World Rugby Cup, to be held this coming autumn in France, is one of 2023s headline-hitting events. The audience is bound to be global, given that rugby is popular on almost all continents, perhaps less so in Asia. Rugby has for long gained ground in Europe, America, Australia and Oceania. Hailing from Africa are the Springboks. The South-African team is the current World Cup holders.

The World Cup begins on September 8, when the Stade de France in Paris plays host to the match pitting France against New Zealand. The fixture counts towards Group A, also including Italy, Uruguay and Namibia. On September 9 in Bordeaux, Romania plays its debut game against the Republic of Ireland. Also in Bordeaux, on September 17, Romanian takes on defending title holders South Africa. Then the game against Scotland follows, on September 30 in Lille. Romania s last fixture as part of the World Cup is the confrontation against Tonga on October 8th, also in Lille.

In its training stage ahead of the World Cup, on Saturday in Bucharest, Romania played the team of the United States. The Romanians were trounced, 17-31. The Romanian team scored three tries, of which only one was successfully converted. The US rugby players scored five times, while three of the tries were successfully converted. Ahead of its departure to France, Romania has two more games to play, against Georgia, in Tbilisi on Saturday and against Italy in San Benedetto del Tronto in a week. Romanias friendly games will decide the final, 33-strong pool of regulars representing Romania at the World Cup in France.