2014 European Nations Cup Division 1: Round Three. 22/02/14

[LittleGuy]

Getting the third round thread started so we can start talking about the games when this round concludes.

Table.

1st. Georgia 28 points (ahead on point differential)
2nd. Romania 28 points
3rd. Russia 18 points
4th. Spain 10 points
5th. Portugal 7 points
6th. Belgium 6 points

 

[racer0bv]

a typo above, it's Georgia in the 1st place .

 

[LittleGuy]

a typo above, it's Georgia in the 1st place .

Oops HAHAHA good spot racer. I transposed that wrong.

 

[zakro4]

Georgia - Russia will be on Dinamo Arena

 

[djwizard84]

Georgia, Romania and Belgium to win their games.
Hopefully Romania get that extra point and hold that 1st place alone
Nevertheless, after seen last round games I don't think Russia will make some pressure against Georgia.

By the way, anybody knows if Romania will get as Georgia any game against a 1 Tier Union late in the year? That should be a must after getting that spot for RWC15.

 

[germanbullsfan]

pitch size

Georgia - Russia will be on Dinamo ArenaView attachment 2718

looks like , that the touch in goal area is not conform with the irb regulations , way to narrow in with!

How can they get a "go" from the match officials????

 

[zakro4]

looks like , that the touch in goal area is not conform with the irb regulations , way to narrow in with!

How can they get a "go" from the match officials????

No, everything is ok with irb regulations It seems the photo is narrow

 

[racer0bv]

By the way, anybody knows if Romania will get as Georgia any game against a 1 Tier Union late in the year? That should be a must after getting that spot for RWC15.

Not only because of that, but mainly because of the evolution in the style of play which was obvious in the autumn internationals. We all hope we will get a game, scotland or italy would be imo a close one (remember rwc 2011 with scotland, when we were 10 mins away from a victory). A strong argument is the defence, which was great in the last games.

Dragos03 is better informed, maybe he has some clues.

 

[dragos03]

It is rumored that France would be willing to play a test against Romania in November, but I doubt it.

Unlike almost all the other Tier 2 nations, Romania has not played Tier 1 opposition since RWC 2011. It's worth noting that the weakest of the 6N (Italy and Scotland) have constantly refused to face Romania, probably because a defeat against us would question the closed nature of the 6N. Italy was beaten in Bucharest last time they played us in a test outside the RWC (2004) while the Scots were extremely lucky not to lose against the Oaks in 2011.

 

[djwizard84]

It is rumored that France would be willing to play a test against Romania in November, but I doubt it.... It's worth noting that the weakest of the 6N (Italy and Scotland) have constantly refused to face Romania, probably because a defeat against us would question the closed nature of the 6N.

France would be great, even for them is good as they can bring some uncaped players to real game.
Of course they feel threatened but at some point they have to accept the growth of the game globally.

 

[dragos03]

Romanian training squad for the match against Spain:

Props
Horatiu Pungea (Scarlets)
Paulica Ion (Perpignan)
Mihaita Lazar (Castres)
Constantin Pristavita (CSM Baia Mare)

Hookers
Andrei Radoi (Ealing Trailfinders)
Eugen Capatana (RCM Timisoara)
Alexandru Oancea (CSM Baia Mare)

Locks
Valentin Popirlan (RCM Timisoara)
Marius Sirbe (Tarbes)
Cristian Munteanu (USRP)

Back row
Mihai Macovei (St. Nazaire)
Viorel Lucaci (CSA Steaua)
Alexandru Mitu (CSM Bucuresti)
Stelian Burcea (RCM Timisoara)
Vlad Nistor (Castres)
Razvan Ailenei (Universitatea Cluj)

Scrum half
Florin Surugiu (CSM Bucuresti)
Ciprian Caplescu (Dinamo)

Fly half
Valentin Calafeteanu (RCM Timisoara)
George Oprea (CSM Baia Mare)

Centre
Csaba Gal (CSM Baia Mare)
Cristian Dinis (CSM Baia Mare)
Florin Vlaicu (RCJ Farul Constanta)
Florin Ionita (CSA Steaua)
Robert Dascalu (CSA Steaua)

Wingers
Ionut Dumitru (CSA Steaua)
Adrian Apostol (RCJ Farul Constanta)
Madalin Lemnaru (RCM Timisoara)

Fullback
Catalin Fercu (RCM Timisoara)
Dorin Manole (Orthez)

 

[Tonga_rugby]

SPAIN SQUAD

INDEPENDIENTE SANTANDER R.C.
CONTARDI, Ignacio
SANZ, Francisco Javier

C.R. EL SALVADOR
MIRANDA, Javier
SEMPERE, César

VALLADOLID R.A.C.
GUTIÉRREZ, Ignacio
NEWTON, Adam Robert

VIGO R.C.
BLANCO, Alejandro

C.R. CISNEROS
VILLANUEVA, Ignacio

C.R.C. MADRID
CANOSA, Javier

BERA BERA R.T.
FEIJÃ"O, Pablo

GETXO R.T.
SNEE, Daniel

STADE BAGNÉRAIS
BONÃN, Anibal

AS BEZIERS
MALIE, Charlie

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE
GOIA, Julen

UNION BORDEAUX-BÈGLES
AUZQUI, Beñat
GIBOUIN, Gauthier

SA BOURG-EN-BRESSE
NAVA, Jaime

CA LORMONT
ROLLS, Glenn

U.S. NAFARROA
ORTÃZ, Agustín

R.C. NARBONNE
ROUET, Sebastien

F.C. VILLEFRANCHE DE LAURAGAIS
PRADALIE, Anthony

TUNBRIDGE WELLS RFC
COOK, Matt

 

[dragos03]

Romanian squad against Spain:

1. Mihaita Lazar (Castres)
2. Andrei Radoi (Ealing Trailfinders)
3. Paulica Ion (Perpignan)
4. Marius Sirbe (Tarbes)
5. Valentin Popirlan (Timisoara)
6. Viorel Lucaci (Steaua)
7. Mihai Macovei (c)(St Nazaire)
8. Stelian Burcea (Timisoara)
9. Florin Surugiu (CSM Bucuresti)
10. Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara)
11. Ionut Dumitru (Steaua)
12. Florin Vlaicu (Farul Constanta)
13. Csaba Gal (Baia Mare)
14. Dorin Manole (Orthez)
15. Catalin Fercu (Timisoara)

Reserves: 16. Eugen Capatana (Timisoara), 17. Constantin Pristavita (Baia Mare), 18. Horatiu Pungea (Scarlets), 19. Cristian Munteanu (Romans), 20. Vlad Nistor (Castres), 21. Madalin Lemnaru (Timisoara), 22. Florin Ionita (Steaua), 23. Cristian Dinis (Baia Mare).

The match will start at 14.30 local time and will be broadcasted live by TVR1. This particular TVR official stream was reported to be working outside Romania during the Portugal match, so it could also work this time:
http://www.tvrplus.ro/live-tvr-cluj

 

[Croket66]

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2015 QUALIFIER
Round 8
EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP 2014
Round 3
Date: Sat 22 Feb 2014
Venue: Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi
KickOff: 17.00 GeoT = 13.00 GMT

GEORGIA

Backs

15 Merab KVIRIKASHVILI Age: 31 Caps: 74
14 Irakli MACHKHANELI (c) Age: 33 Caps: 69
13 Davit KATCHARAVA Age: 29 Caps: 70
12 Merab SHARIKADZE Age: 21 Caps: 20
11 Tamaz MTCHEDLIDZE Age: 21 Caps: 12
10 Lasha KHMALADZE Age: 26 Caps: 28
9 Giorgi BEGADZE Age: 28 Caps: 19

Forwards

1 Mikheil NARIASHVILI Age: 24 Caps: 16
2 Jaba BREGVADZE Age: 27 Caps: 21
3 Davit ZIRAKASHVILI Age: 31 Caps: 42
4 Kote MIKAUTADZE Age: 23 Caps: 17
5 Levan DATUNASHVILI Age: 31 Caps: 59
6 Vito KOLELISHVILI Age: 25 Caps: 26
7 Mamuka GORGODZE Age: 30 Caps: 54
8 Dimitri BASILAIA Age: 29 Caps: 30

Reserves

23 Lasha MALAGHURADZE Age: 28 Caps: 43
22 Tedo ZIBZIBADZE Age: 34 Caps: 73
21 Vazha KHUTSISHVILI Age: 21 Caps: 8

16 Shalva MAMUKASHVILI Age: 24 Caps: 18
17 Zurab ZHVANIA Age: 23 Caps: 5
18 Levan CHILACHAVA Age: 23 Caps: 12
19 Giorgi NEMSADZE Age: 30 Caps: 35
20 Giorgi CHKHAIDZE Age: 33 Caps: 72

Coach Milton HAIG [NZL]

RUSSIA

Backs

15 Vasily ARTEMYEV Age: 27 Caps: 42
14 Andrey OTROKOV Age: 29 Caps: 12
13 Dmitry GERASIMOV Age: 26 Caps: 22
12 Aleksey MAKOVETSKY Age: 31 Caps: 36
11 Igor GALINOVSKY Age: 29 Caps: 25
10 Yury KUSHNARYOV Age: 29 Caps: 61
9 Aleksandr YANYUSHKIN Age: 32 Caps: 60

Forwards

1 Aleksey VOLKOV Age: 28 Caps: 26
2 Vladislav KORSHUNOV Age: 31 Caps: 65
3 Andrey IGRETSOV Age: 29 Caps: 12
4 Aleksandr VOYTOV(c) Age: 33 Caps: 67
5 Kiril KULYOMIN Age: 34 Caps: 27
6 Andrey OSTRIKOV Age: 27 Caps: 17
7 Andrey TEMNOV Age: 31 Caps: 32
8 Viktor GRESEV Age: 28 Caps: 59

Reserves

23 Vladimir RUDENKO Age: 27 Caps: 0
22 Sergey SUGROBOV Age: 31 Caps: 17
21 Anton RYABOV Age: 25 Caps: 13

16 Stanislav SELSKY Age: 23 Caps: 1
17 Sergey SEKISOV Age: 27 Caps: 4
18 Inokenty ZYKOV Age: 33 Caps: 16
19 Pavel BUTENKO Age: 27 Caps: 19
20 Aleksandr KHUDYAKOV Age: 25 Caps: 5

Coach Kingsley JONES [WAL]

Officials

Referee Alexandre RUIZ [FRA]
Touch Judges: Arnaud BLONDEL [FRA] / Jonathan GASNIER [FRA]

 

[DavidLg]

Belgian squad to face Portugal.

Berger won't play, La Rochelle don't want to let him go

 

[LittleGuy]

Any picks guys?

I'll go with...

Georgia by 20

Romania by 14

Belgium by 1

 

[Tonga_rugby]

Georgia by 25
Romania by 18
belgium by 2

 

[dragos03]

I expect Georgia to win by at least 30 points, but it could get uglier. Russia is in terrible shape, they now have no real objective to play for and they are missing several important players. And there will be a big stadium full of Georgian fans, for whom the match against Russia is probably the most important one for reasons bigger than rugby.

Romania should win against Spain without much trouble but I wouldn't expect a large margin.

Anything can happen in the third match. I would personally like Portugal to win and stay in this division (they have always been a combative team and I like their style) but Belgium is the strongest new team in 1A in many years. In any case, it will be a tough match and probably a close result.

 

[norcalbuff]

I want Belgium to win and stay up but without Berger, I think they're the underdog. The reason I'd like to see them stay up is that they seem to have a much brighter future than Portugal (and frankly anyone in the ENC other than Romania and Georgia). Their squad is young, their union is forward thinking and quality, and they have solid juniors coming through the ranks. Spain and Portugal seem all too happy with their current place, with Portugal in particular having a very negative view of professionalism. And the Russian union is a joke. So Allez la Belgique.

 

[Croket66]

Georgia by 40
Romania by 21
Belgium by 6