Preview: 6NB Round 4
It’s the penultimate round of Rugby Europe’s International Championship, the so-called Six Nations B.
The only match that looks as if it could be close is the one up in Northern Romania when the Oaks of Romania meet the Bears of Russia – neighbour against neighbour.
Fixtures Round 4
Romania vs Russia at Stadionul Municipal Botosani
Spain vs Belgium in Madrid
Georgia vs Germany in Kutaisi
Results
Round 1
Georgia vs Romania, 18-9
Belgium vs Germany, 29-22
Spain vs Russia, 16-14
Round 2
Romania vs Germany, 38-10
Russia vs Belgium, 64-7
Georgia vs Spain, 24-10
Round 3
Georgia vs Belgium, 46-6
Russia vs Germany, 26-18
Spain vs Romania, 21-18
Round 4 Details
Romania vs Russia
Romania have made only two changes to the team beaten by Spain in Madrid for this home match. Experienced Catalin Fercu, 32 years old and capped 77 times for Romania, is out and so is captain and flank Mihai Macovei, who has played 87 timers for the Oaks. Nicolas Onutu comes off the bench to taker Fercu’s place and Adrian Ion takes over from Macovei as flank and as captain.
Russia have four changes one, at scrumhalf where Vasily Dorofeev drops out and three in the pack where lock Bogdan Fedotko, tighthead Azamat Bitiev and hooker Evgenii Matveev are out. Matveev and Fedotkow are on the bench.
Teams
Romania: 15 Marius Simionescu, 14 Vladut Zaharia, 13 Nicolas Onutu, 12 Fonovai Tangimana, 11 Ionut Dumitru, 10 Florin Vlaicu, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Cristi Chirica, 7 Adrian Ion (captain), 6 Andre Gorin, 5 Marius Antonescu, 4 Johan van Heerden,3 Alexandru Tarus, 2 Eugen Capatana, 1 Constantin Pristavita
Replacements: 16 Ovidiu Cojocaru, 17 Iulian Hartig, 18 Alexandru Gordas, 19 Ionut Muresan, 20 Dorin Lazar, 21 Alexandru Tigla, 22 Ionel Melinte, 23 Vladut Popa
Russia: 15 Vasily Artemyev (captain), 14 German Davydov, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 12 Dmitrii Gerasimov, 11 Mikhail Babaev, 10 Iurii Kushnarev, 9 Dmitrii Perov, 8 Nikita Vavilin, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 6 Anton Sychev, 5 Andrei Garbuzov, 4 Andrey Ostrikov, 3 Vladimir Podrezov, 2 Stanislav Selskii, 1 Andrei Polivalov
Replacements: 16 Evgenii Matveev, 17 Evgeny Mishechkin, 18 Innokentiy Zykov, 19 Bogdan Fedotko, 20 Vitaly Zhivatov, 21 Alexey Shcherban, 22 Ramil Gaisin, 23 Viktor Kononov
Date: Saturday, 9 March 2019
Kick-off: 14:00
Venue: Stadionul Municipal Botosani
Expected weather conditions: Partly cloudy with a high of 17°C, dropping to 6°C
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Luc Ramos (France)
Citing commissioner: Wayne Sheridan (Ireland)
Spain vs Belgium
Spain have changed six in their side, including both halfbacks.
Only three of the Belgian pack have survived – Thomas Dienst, Bertrand Billi and Gillian Benoy. And only Tuur Moelants will be taking his seat on the bench again this week.
Teams
Spain: 15 Bradley-Dean Linklater, 14 Julen Goia, 13 Fabien Perrin, 12 Alvar Gimeno, 11 Jordi Jorba, 10 Sebastien Rouet, 9 Guillaume Rouet, 8 Oier Goia, 7 Lucas Guillame, 6 Pierre Barthere, 5 Mickael De Marco, 4 Victor Sánchez, 3 Xerom Civil, 2 Benat Auzqui,1 Fernando López (captain)
Replacements: 16 JeanBaptiste Custoja, 17 Quentin Garcia, 18 Michael Walker-Fitton, 19 Manu Mora, 20 Lucas Rubio, 21 David Mele, 22 Andrea Rabago, 23 Jon Zabala
Belgium: 15 Vincent Hart, 14 Thomas Wallraf, 13 Louis de Moffarts, 12 Ervin Muric, 11 Craig Dowsett, 10 Isaac Montoisy, 9 Tom Cocqu, 8 William Van-Bost, 7 Mathieu Verschelden, 6 Gillian Benoy, 5 Tom Herenger, 4 Bertrand Billi, 3 Maxime Jadot, 2 Thomas Dienst (captain), 1 Jean-Baptiste de Clercq
Replacements: 16 Vincent Tauzia, 17 Alexis Cuffolo, 18 Tuur Moelants, 19 Maxime Ghion, 20 Corentin Lecloux, 21 Louis Debatty, 22 Florian Piron, 23 Romain Pinte
Date: Sunday, 10 March 2019
Kick-off: 12:45
Venue: Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid
Expected weather conditions: Sunny with a high of 23°C, dropping to 6°C
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Vincenzo Schipani (Italy), Simone Boaretto (Italy)
Citing commissioner: Bernard Jargeac (Luxembourg)
Georgia vs Germany
Teams
Georgia: tba
Germany: tba
Date: Sunday, 10 March 2019
Kick-off: 14.00
Venue: AIA Arena, Kutaisi
Expected weather conditions: Partly cloudy with a high of 18°C and a low of 7°C
Referee: Keith Allen (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Graeme Ormiston (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
Citing commissioner: Richard McGhee (Scotland)
