RRI Sports Club
Rugby
Florin Orban, 20.02.2019, 12:36
The international rugby season is in full swing. All eyes are now turned to the 6 Nations Championship, which is already in its 3rd round. England and Wales are the only teams that won both games played so far, and on Sunday they are pitted against each other in Cardiff.
Romania is playing in the second-tier league, called Rugby Europe Championship. This season the Oaks have reported a win and a loss. The loss came in the first round, played on home turf against Georgia, the unchallenged leader of this competition. Georgia won 18-9, scoring two tries. The points for Romania were scored by Florin Vlaicu, who converted two penalty kicks.
The second match, played against Germany last week, also on home turf, in the northern city of Botosani, brought Romania its first win this season, 38-10. Ionut Dumitru, Ionel Melinte, Johan Van Heerden, Florin Surugiu, Vladut Popa and Daniel Plai all scored tries for Romania, with Florin Vlaicu converting four of them. Also on Saturday, Russia defeated Belgium 64-7. On Sunday, Georgia defeated Spain, 24-10. Ranking first is Georgia with 8 points, followed by Russia with 6 points and Romania with 5 points.
Romanias next fixture in the competition will be an away match against Spain, scheduled for March 3. The match will be difficult, considering Spain has put on a good display of rugby in the first two games this season. In the match against Georgia, Spain scored two tries. Whats interesting is that, in the first fixture against Russia at home, Spain scored only one try, but won the match, although the visiting side scored and converted two tries. The final score was 16-14.
(translated by: Vlad Palcu)