Romania kick past Canada

 

These two teams knew what to expect from each other from previous meetings; it would be the powerful Romanian pack, against Canada's speed and dynamic attacking style.

 

So it was with some real intent that Canada opened this important match, in Bucharest. 

 

Dynamic runs by Pro 12 stars Jeff Hassler and DTH Van der Merwe gave Canada great field position early on, that soon saw James Pritchard collect the first three points of the match and add to his total as Canada's all-time leading scorer.

 

From there, Canada continued to press, racking-up large amounts of possession that saw the Romanians concede numerous penalties under pressure. A yellow-card seemed to be looming and Canada looked confident with ball-in-hand.

 

Unfortunately, Canada’s kickers could not land another penalty during the firsthalf, and slowly, the Romanians began to utilize their powerful scrum to change the shape and tempo of the game.

 

Numerous penalties at scrum-time began to see Romania collect field position and eventually points; a trend which would see the hosts take a narrow 6–3 lead into half-time. Still, Canada looked the more enterprising side.

 

Aftter meeting at the break, Coach Kieran Crowley’s squad emerged in the second-half looking to recapture the energy that had seen them start so well in the first, but it was not to be.

 

Time and again, the Romanian scrum proved the decisive factor, winning the hosts penalties that gradually saw them build a 15–9 lead.  

 

Despite a late Canadian fight-back attept, Romania’s flyhalf, Florin Vlaicu, was able to land one additional penalty to give his team a two score lead in the dying moments; making the final score 18–9 for Romania. 

 

 

Pens: Vlaicu 6

 

Pens: Pritchard 2, McRorie

 

 

Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Dorin Manole, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Robert Dascalu, 11 Ionut Botezatu, 10 Florin Vlaicu, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Stelian Burcea, 7 Valentin Ursache, 6 Mihai Macovei (captain), 5 Valentin Popirlan, 4 Alin Coste, 3 Horatiu Pungea, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Lazar.

Replacements: 16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Andrei Ursache, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Marius Antonescu, 20 Vlad Nistor, 21 Florin Surugiu, 22 Florin Ionita, 23 Robert Neagu.

 

Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Patrick Parfrey, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Tyler Ardron (captain), 7 Nanyak Dala, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Jon Phelan, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Aaron Carpenter, 1 Hubert Buydens.

Replacements: 16 Ray Barkwill, 17 Andrew Tiedemann, 18 Doug Wooldridge, 19 Kyle Gilmour, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Sean White, 22 Jordan Wilson-Ross, 23 Nick Blevins.

 

Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)

TMO: Geoff Warren (England)