WORLD CUP TEST RUGBY: Romania and Uruguay Fight out Last Spot

13.11.2010
Romania v Uruguay in Montevideo (WCQ Repechage Final, 1st leg)

Venue: Estadio Charrúa

Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

More successful days for Romania, v Georgia 2006. Image thanks to http://www.foto-magazin.ro/weblogap/archives/2006/10/

Preview
The final spot at the 2011 Rugby World Cup is up for grabs. Romania and Uruguay, who have both been at Rugby World Cup Finals will start the contest for the last place Saturday. Played over two legs, the first is in Montevideo. The second will be in Bucharest in two weeks time. The team with the best aggregate tally will go to New Zealand.

Uruguay has, like Romania, worn a weary path to this position. The journey began in April-May last year with a playoff against Brazil and Chile. Uruguay passed these easily enough and then faced the USA in a Round Two playoff. The winner would go direct to The World Cup Final. USA won both matches thus pushing Uruguay further away from the finals. The next stage was a one off repechage playoff against the second Asian team Kazakhstan. Uruguay won this easily in Montevideo 44-7. Now they face Romania.

The Romanians have had a worrying time trying to qualify for the Finals. Firstly Georgia and Russia pushed them into 3rd place in the 2008-10 European Nations Cup Competition. This meant a playoff against Ukraine, which Romania won easily followed by a one-off playoff against Tunisia (Africa 2) in Romania, also won easily. So now to Uruguay for the last playoff.

Uruguay has a useful enough team. It includes the return of Matias Arocena to the pivot position plus a small number of Argentina or France-based players. Compared to their opponents they look decidedly under strength.

Romania has called upon a number of experienced campaigners for this test match. They have a strong bench, especially forward, and I suspect they will attempt to out muscle the South Americans. A win away would give the Romanians a great advantage for the return test at home. The 'Oaks' have trained in Buenos Aires for a week prior to moving to Montevideo.

Previous Encounters
12.06.2009 Romania 17-11 in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)
11.06.2008 Romania 10-6 in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Romania 19th, Uruguay 22nd

IRB Rankings
Romania 65.10 (19th), Uruguay 61.38 (21st)

Prediction: Romania by 8 points

Teams

Romania
15. Florin Vlaicu (Steaua Bucaresti)
14. Catalin Fercu (Arad)
13. Csaba Gal (Baia Mare)
12. Ionut Dimofte (Baia Mare)
11. Madalin Lemnaru (Arad)
10. Danut Dumbrava (Steaua Bucaresti)
9. Lucian Sirbu (Millau, France))
8. Alexandru Manta (Lyon, France)
7. Ovidiu Tonita (Perpignan, France)
6. Stelian Burcea (Arad)
5. Valentin Ursache (Baia Mare)
4. Sorin Socol, Capt. (Lourdes, France)
3. Dragos Dima (Blagnac, France)
2. Marius Tincu (Perpignan, France)
1. Bogdan Balan (Lyon, France)
Replacements
16. Cezar Popescu (Macon, France)
17. Andrei Radoi (Baia Mare)
18. Mihai Lazar (Aix En Provence, France)
19. Petre Cristian (Saint Etienne, France)
20. Daniel Carpo (Farul Constanta)
21. Valentin Calafeteanu (Arad)
22. Iulian Dumitras (Lourdes, France)
Head Coach: Steve McDowall

http://www.rugby.ro/articol/cei-xv-stejari-cu-care-romania-intra-maine-in-teren-pentru-meciul-cu-uruguay-15316/

Uruguay
15. Ivo Dugonjic (Pucarú-Stade Galuois)
14. Leandro Leivas (Old Christians)
13. Martín Crosa (Old Boys)
12. Juan De Freitas (Champagnat)
11. Gastón Mieres (Los Lobos Rugby)
10. Matias Arocena (Old Christians)
9. Manuel Martínez (Old Christians)
8. Santiago Vilaseca (Old Boys)
7. Nicolás Brignoni (Oyonnax, France)
6. Mathias Braun (Pucarú-Stade Galuois)
5. Diego Magno (Montevideo Cricket Club)
4. Matías Fonseca (Los Cuervos)
3. Mario Sagario (Dax, France)
2. Carlos Arboleya, Capt. (Trébol Rugby)
1. Alejo Corral (San Isidro, Argentina)
Replacements
16. Juan Pedro Rombys (Trébol Rugby)
17. Martin Espiga (Old Christians)
18. Pablo Lemoine (Valence D’Agen, France)
19. Juan Ignacio Tabarez (Belgrano, Argentina)
20. Juan Manuel Gaminara (Old Boys)
21. Emiliano Caffera (Champagnat)
22. Nicolas Morales (Trébol Rugby)
Head Coach: Gonzalo Camardón

http://www.uru.org.uy/noticias/603/la_c ... el_partido

Missing from 22 v Kazakhstan in July
Alfredo Giuria (Los Cuervos)
Edgardo Benítez (Trébol Rugby)
Juan Carlos Bado (Valence D’Agen, France)
Juan Pablo Horta (Old Christians)
Juan Martin Llovet (Old Christians)
Santiago Gortari (Old Boys)
Also, no Rodrigo Carpo who plays in France

TEST RUGBY RESULTS: Saturday 17 July

17.07.2010
New Zealand 31, South Africa 17 in Wellington (Tri Nations)
Uruguay 44, Kazakhstan 7 in Montevideo (WCQ Repecharge 1)
Romania 56, Tunisia 13 in Buzau (WCQ Repecharge 2)
Kenya 23, Zimbabwe 18 in Harare (Victoria Cup)
Niger v D.R.Congo in Niamey (Africa Trophy, North)
Burkino Faso v Mali in Niamey (Africa Trophy, North)

Briefly
New Zealand repeated last weekend's ruthless display against South Africa and again handed the Springbox their second defeat in New Zealand. South Africa now play Australia in Brisbane next weekend and I can feel the Wallaby knives sharpening already. A third loss next weekend will be a disaster for South African rugby. And again a yellow card against South Africa in the fourth minute swung the game away towards New Zealand as the Kiwis pilled on 10 points in 10 minutes. The South African's never really recovered.

Uruguay and Romania will meet in the Playoff final to determine who fills the last World Cup 2011 finals spot. Both had easy wins.

Kenya remain undefeated in the first year of the Victoria Cup.

WORLD CUP RUGBY: Repecharge Playoff No.1

17.07.2010
Tunisia v Romania in Buzau

Venue: Stadionul Gloria

Referee:

Preview
This is the first of two Rugby World Cup repecharge semi-finals to be played this weekend. The other is between Uruguay and Kazakhstan. The winner of each semi-final will meet in the Repecharge final, the venue to depend on who has the highest IRB Rankings place.

Tunisia has had a tough international time since qualifying for this playoff round in 2009. They lost to Namibia by aggregate points in November last year, the Namibians automatically qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup Finals. Since then Tunisia squeezed a 25-22 win over Arabian Gulf at home. In the 2010 Africa Cup Pool play, held in Tunis, they narrowly defeated Senegal by 1 point and then lost 6-29 to the Moroccans in the final. Those results would most likely see Tunisia out of contention for the Africa Cup, and were certainly a worrying signal that Tunisia was already out of its depth as far as qualifying for the World Cup Finals. What is frustrating is the lack of media communication about this match from Tunisia. I have no idea of the composition of their squad. It looks as though as far as Tunisia is concerned this match doesn't exist!

Romania has had to battle harder for the place they hold in the qualifying rounds by comparison. Having finished third in the 2008-10 European Nations Cup and World Cup qualifying rounds (Georgia and Russia, 1st and 2nd, qualified automatically) they then faced Ukraine home-away. They successfully steered themselves past that hurdle which now brings them to a one off play off against Tunisia. Battle harder they may have but this has hardened the Romanians for this task.

Although missing a number of France-based players, Romania's traditional strength, there is still a look of certainty about the Romanians. Most are experienced campaigners and they have had a longer build up history compared to the underdone Tunisians. Playing on home turf, if a little removed from Bucharest, the Romanians should waltz in.

Previous Encounters
08.05.1993 Romania 51-0 in Bucharest (FIRA A2)
05.10.1986 Romania 37-9 in Constanta (FIRA A, Rnd 2)
03.05.1986 Tunisia 17-15 in Monastir (FIRA A, Rnd 1)
05.05.1985 Romania 30-3 in Constanta (FIRA A)

Romania Under 23 defeated Tunisia 15-7 in Tunis in May 2009.

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Romania 19th, Tunisia 27th
IRB Rankings-Romania 19th (65.10), Tunisia 23rd (52.24)

Prediction: Romania by 47 points

Teams

Romania
15. Florin Vlaicu (CSA Steaua Bucuresti)
14. Catalin Fercu (CSU Arad)
13. Ionut Dimofte (CSM Baia Mare)
12. Csaba Gal (CSM Baia Mare)
11. Stefan Ciuntu (CSM Baia Mare)
10. Danut Dumbrava (CSA Steaua Bucuresti)
9. Valentin Ivan (CS Dinamo Bucuresti)
8. Alexandru Manta (Lyon, France)
7. Daniel Ianus (CSA Steaua Bucuresti)
6. Stelian Burcea, Capt. (CSU Arad)
5, Valentin Ursache (CSM Baia Mare)
4. Marius Sirbe (Tarbes, France)
3. Samuel Maris (CSA Steaua Bucuresti)
2. Cezar Popescu (Saint Medard en Jalles, France)
1. Mihai Lazar (Saint Etienne Caserugby, France)
Relacements
16. Andrei Radoi (CSM Baia Mare)
17. Radu Basalau (CSU Arad)
18. Cristian Petre (AS Beziers, France)
19. Daniel Carpo (RCJ Farul Constanta)
20. Valentin Calafeteanu (CSU Arad)
21. Ionel Cazan (CSA Steaua Bucuresti)
22. Catalin Nicolae (RCJ Farul Constanta)
Head Coach: Romeo Gontineac

Adapted from http://frr.ro/2010/07/16/stelian-burcea-capitan-cu-tunisia/

Tunisia
Not available

WORLD CUP RUGBY: Repecharge Playoff No.2

17.07.2010
Kazakhstan v Uruguay in Montevideo

Venue: Stadium Charrúa

Referee:

Preview
In this rather lopsided, unequal stage of the Rugby World Cup qualifiers, Kazakhstan, placed second in the Asian Zone, faces Uruguay, who finished third in the Americas. This is a straight knock out game, the winner will play the winner of the other Repecharge match between Tunisia and Romania.

The venue was decided by IRB rankings. Uruguay is higher than Kazakhstan on the list, so Montevideo got the nod.

Kazakhstan arrived in Montevideo without one of their key players, fullback Maxim Lifontov, their Russian-based player. Thankfully their star player Rudoy is with the team. It is a very different Kazakhstan side without those two. Kazakhstan has also left behind a couple of their Russian-based forwards. One of the bench players was left behind due to injury making only 21 players arriving in Montevideo.

It does not look like Kazakhstan's strongest line up. One bright note for Kazakhstan is that they join, for 2010, Uruguay on the World Table of the GWC Rugby Ranking system.

Uruguay, strong favourites even without their home advantage, has recalled 1999 Rugby World Cup finals veteran No.8, 34 year old Brignoni.

It's difficult to see Kazakhstan winning with all the odds heavily weighted against them. A win would be nothing short of a miracle.

This is the first times these two teams have ever met in 15's international rugby.

Other Previews

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid=2039442.html#four+teams+hunt+final+rwc+place

Kazakhstan will require some super human efforts from star player Anton Rudoy.

GWC Rugby Rankings
Only Uruguay is registered on the world table.
IRB Rankings points-Uruguay 61.21, Kazakhstan 55.38

Prediction: Uruguay by 17 points

Teams

Uruguay
15- Ivo Dugonjic (Pucarú-Stade Galuois)
14- Leandro Leivas (Old Christians)
13- Martín Crosa (Old Boys)
12- Juan De Freitas (Champagnat)
11- Gastón Mieres (Los Lobos Rugby)
10- Emiliano Caffera (Champagnat)
9- Manuel Martínez (Old Christians)
8- Nicolás Brignoni (Oyonnax, France)
7- Alfredo Giuria (Los Cuervos)
6- Mathias Braun (Pucarú-Stade Galuois)
5- Matías Fonseca (Los Cuervos)
4- Diego Magno (Montevideo Cricket Club)
3- Pablo Lemoine (Valence D’Agen, France)
2- Carlos Arboleya, Capt. (Trébol Rugby)
1- Alejo Corral (San Isidro, Argentina)
Replacements
16- Edgardo Benítez (Trébol Rugby)
17- Juan Pedro Rombys (Trébol Rugby)
18- Martin Espiga (Old Christians)
19- Juan Carlos Bado (Valence D’Agen, France)
20- Juan Pablo Horta (Old Christians)
21- Juan Martin Llovet (Old Christians)
22- Santiago Gortari (Old Boys)
Head Coach: Gonzalo Camardón

Adapted from http://www.uru.org.uy/noticias/488/titulares_confirmados

Kazakhstan
15- Sergey Nozhkin
14- Denis Molochniy
13-Alexandr Zakharov (RC Novokuznetsk, Russia)
12-Ildar Abdrazakov (Almaty RFC)
11-Sergey Konev (CSKA Almaty)
10-Daulet Akymbekov (CSKA Almaty)
9-Akhmetzhan Baratov (Almaty RFC)
8-Anton Rudoy (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk)
7-Timur Mashurov, Capt.), (Almaty RFC)
6-Grigoriy Ivanchenko (Almaty RFC)
5-Serik Zhanseitov (CSKA Almaty)
4-Yevgeniy Shekurov (RC Novokuznetsk, Russia)
3-Vladimir Chernykh (RC Novokuznetski, Russia)
2- Arman Mussulmankulov (Almaty RFC)
1-Mikhail Bzhitskih (RC Novokuznetski, Russia)
Replacements
16-Azatto Abishev (Almaty RFC)
17-Sergey Menshikov (Almaty RFC)
18- Tairzhan Arzhev
19- Evgeniy Sheshin (RC Novokuznetsk, Russia)
20-Roman Sorokodzyuba (RC Novokuznetsk, Russia)
21-Ilya Poplavskiy (RC Novokuznetsk, Russia)
22- Evgeny Zabaiyakin –Injured and did not arrive
Head Coach: Evgeny Zuev

Adapted from http://www.uru.org.uy/noticias/488/titulares_confirmados. Club affiliations, records of http://www.rugbyinternational.net/

INTERNATIONAL RUGBY AHEAD: Saturday 17 July

17.07.2010
South Africa v New Zealand in Wellington (Tri Nations)
Kazakhstan v Uruguay in Montevideo (WCQ Repecharge Semi-final, No.1)
Tunisia v Romania in Buzau (WCQ Repecharge Semi-final No.2)
Kenya v Zimbabwe in Harare (Victoria Cup)

17-27 July-Africa Trophy North due to be played in Niamey, Niger.
Teams-Niger, Burkino Faso, Mali, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Congo, Senegal A)