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Florin Orban, 23.03.2022, 13:45

Four Romanian
national rugby team players proved themselves in the Rugby Europe Championship’s
last round. Ovidiu Cojocaru, Adrian Moţoc, Daniel Plai and Hinckley
Vaovasa have been included in the round’s dream team, when Romania trounced the
team of the Netherlands, 39-12, away from home. Picked up among the dream team’s
substitutes were Costel Burţilă and Gabriel Rupanu. Most
of the dream team players, 7, come from Georgia, the team that won the Rugby Europe
Championship, having thrashed Spain, 49 to 15. Georgia and Spain are the first
two teams in descending order according to the combined rankings of the Rugby Europe
Championship’s 2021 and 2022 editions, so they booked
their direct qualification to the 2023 edition of the World Cup in France. 3rd-placed
Romania is to play in the repechage in November, if they want to secure a
position for the World Cup.

Joining
Romania for the repechage tournament are also teams from the two Americas, from
the Asia-Pacific Zone and Africa. Teams will play
according to the round-robin system. Of the Americas, the winner will be
decided after the double confrontation pitting the USA against Chile. The
winning team qualifies to the World Cup, directly, while the defeated team
plays in the repechage tournament. According to the world rankings, USA are 18th-placed,
while Chile are 23rd, being outclassed by Romania, currently 17th-placed
according to the same rankings. For the Asia-Pacific Zone, the winner will be
decided in the confrontation pitting the team of the state of Tonga against the
Asia’s champions. Again, the winning team qualifies to the World Cup directly,
while the defeated team plays in the repechage tournament. Tonga is by far the favorite team.

Romania will most likely play the Asian
champion, to be decided between Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia. According
to the world rankings, Hong Kong are 22nd-placed, South Korea, 29th,
while Malaysia are 50th placed. Africa’s championship will be held in France in
July. The eight competing teams will play according to a knock-out system. The winning team qualifies to the World Cup,
directly, while the finalist plays in the repechage tournament. Of the African teams,
best-placed according to the world rankings are Namibia, which is 24th-placed
and Zimbabwe, which is 34th-placed.

(EN)