Romanian Rugby

[amz]

this is hard to watch...they were not prepared for this.

 

[dragos03]

A shameful performance in the first half, I expected them to be shocked by the level of the opponent but not like this. Timisoara looked like amateurs.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Try this : http://tvrohdonline.com/digi-sport-1/

Thanks, but that won't work either. Seems the gap is very big, it is almost a full strength Edinburgh and they did just find their form last week. Looking at the scorers I'm guessing they are dominating it with forwards rather than with the backs?

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

59-17 is a wider score than I was expecting, but is not a humiliation thanks to Timisoara grabbing a couple of tries. I do wonder if Timisoara should have done what Enisei have done in Russia and invited players from other teams in the league to join them, at least for positions where they had injuries.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

If anyone can find match highlights can you please share thanks

 

[dragos03]

The only positive from this match is that Timisoara seems to have learned something after a shocking first half and was more competitive in the second. Hopefully they can improve in the following games.

I disagree about loaning players from the other clubs, that's unfair. If we really want our league to grow, we have to do it right, accept such defeats, learn from them and move on.

And it's certainly a humiliation, even if they scored some tries of their own. I don't remember Bucharest Wolves to ever be outplayed like this in a match.

 

[dragos03]

Full match

It's maybe worth nothing that the first try came after a shocking forward pass. That very early try did much to sap Timisoara's confidence, contributing to their rout in the first half.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

An infuriating match to watch over breakfast from my perspective of having sympathies with Edinburgh. The gap in quality did not seem to be as big as the scoreline suggested and Timisoara should be angry with themselves. They played almost all the rugby from 15-25mins (including a nice try) and then again from 40-50 mins (until they had their 13 taken off in an ambulance which seemed to disrupt them) and then from 60-80mins.

Edinburgh lacked ambition, with very little expansive play and as you say what appeared to be a horrible forward pass / knock on leading to the first try. If it was not for Timisoara's inability at lineout / defending maul and lack of awareness of a quick penalty the scoreline could have been more respectable. Edinburgh backs at points getting infuriated at the unwillingness of the forwards to share possession with them in the opponents 22. If being 30+ points up against an opponent isn't the time to experiment with more ambitious play then I don't know when is.

 

[dragos03]

I was frustrated by almost the opposite reasons.

Even if Timisoara dominated almost half of the match, they lost by 42 points. They were unable to score after long periods of offensive presure, like the one at the start of the second half. By contrast, Edinburgh converted almost every chance they got. This is the difference between a team with a plan and one without a plan.

Also, Timisoara wasn't able to change tactics or adapt to the opponent. Even if it was clear they couldn't stop those rolling mauls, they still tried to do it every time instead of shifting to a different approach like contesting the lineout or not opposing the maul at all.

It was obvious that Edinburgh's forwards were stronger while Timisoara's backs could be dangerous, both tries were scored after running rugby. Still, for most of the match, they were afraid to release the ball to the backs and wasted time with fruitless attacks with the forwards, usually ending with a ruck penalty for Edinburgh.

 

[amz]

I was surprised by Edinburgh's pack, I didn't expected Timisoara to be dominated in such manner. However, many of the shortcommings of Saturday matches were noted by fans this season and club management did little or nothing to correct bad discipline and issues of attitude toward refs or opponents. I think the score line does not reflect the difference between Timisoara and Edinburgh but rather reflect the difference in professionalism of Scottish club which looked like did its homework very well and found Timisoara's weak spots.

I really hoped that the defeat from Baia Mare was an wake up call but obviously it wasn't.

The try with obvious forward pass from the beginning shouldn't be accused for the margin and ironically now Timisoara may find a Romanian ref as doing a better job for them...the way the ruck is refereed in Romania must change and this must be acknowledged by clubs, refs, coaches, all involved. Hopefully we will see less rebeliousness from Timisoara towards ref and FRR officials and more professionalism...this is where they are compared with Challenge Cup clubs and should start to be more humble even home.

 

[dragos03]

Teams are up for the match in Paris tomorrow, more of the experienced Timisoara players are not available (Pungea, Drenceanu):

Timisoara Saracens
15. Catalin Fercu
14. Fonovai Tangimana
13. Brian Sefanaia
12. Jack Umaga
11. Stephen Shennan
10. Jody Rose
9. Valentin Calafeteanu
1. Gigi Militaru
2 .Andrei Radoi
3. Edmund Aholelei
4. Ionut Muresan
5. Valentin Poparlan
6. Randall Morrison
7. Vasile Rus
8. Sandu Stelian Burcea (capt)

16. Eugen Capatina, 17. Sione Taupaki, 18. Samuel Maris, 19. Marian Gorcioaia, 20. Madalin Lemnaru, 21. Daniel Vladut Zaharia, 22. Daniel Ianus, 23. Tevita Manumua

Stade Francais
15. Djibril Camara
14. Julien Arias
13. Théo Millet
12. Jules Plisson
11. Ratu Alipate Ratini
10. Morné Steyn
9. Clement Daguin
1. Zurabi Zhvania
2. Laurent Panis
3. Zak Taulafo
4. Mathieu De Giovanni
5. Pascal Papé (capt)
6. Sekou Macalou
7. Sylvain Nicolas
8. Jonathan Ross

16. Craig Burden, 17. Emmanuel Felsina, 18. Giorgi Melikidze, 19. Willem Alberts, 20. Raphael Lakafia, 21. Arthur Coville, 22. Herman Meyer Bosman, 23. Faraj Fartass

 

[dragos03]

Stade Francais - Timisoara 27-0

Well, at least there seems to be some progress (scorewise) from the previous defeat.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

With Pape, Plisson and Steyn starting for Stade that is a credible away result even though no points were scored.

 

[dragos03]

Lynn Howells has announced the Oaks squad for the November tests, it's a pretty crazy selection mixing some old and young players (some with zero Superliga experience), while a number of established names (Macovei, Pungea, Turashvili) are missing. Fonovai is the only one of the newly eligible foreigners to be selected.

Props:
Mihai Lazar (Castres Olympique)
Constantin Pristavita (Stiinta Baia Mare)
Alexandru Tarus (Beziers)
Alexandru Gordas (CSA Steaua)
Andrei Ursache (Carcassonne)

Hookers:
Andrei Radoi (Timisoara Saracens)
Marian Capatana (Timisoara Saracens)
Florin Bardasu (Stiinta Baia Mare)

Locks:
Valentin Poparlan (Timisoara Saracens)
Marius Antonescu (Tarbes)
Johan Van Heerden (Stiinta Baia Mare)
Ionut Muresan (Timisoara Saracens)

Backrow:
Viorel Lucaci (CSA Steaua)
Andrei Gorcioaia (Valence d'Agen)
Stelian Burcea (Timisoara Saracens)
Vasile Rus (Timisoara)
Valentin Ursache (Oyonnax)

Scrum half:
Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara Saracens)
Tudorel Bratu (Dinamo)
Florin Surugiu (CSA Steaua)

Fly half:
Ovidiu Melniciuc (U Cluj)
Jody Rose (Timisoara Saracens)

Centres:
Florin Vlaicu (CSA Steaua)
Jack Umaga (Timisoara Saracens)
Florin Popa (Timisoara Saracens)
Tangimana Fonovai (Timisoara Saracens)

Wingers:
Stephen Shennan (Timisoara Saracens)
Ionut Dumitru (CSA Steaua)
Madalin Lemnaru (Timisoara Saracens)
Nicolas Onutu (La Voulte-Valence)

Fullbacks:
Catalin Fercu (Timisoara Saracens)
Marius Simionescu (Timisoara Saracens)

 

[amz]

Few comments:

Props:
Alexandru Gordas (CSA Steaua) - good call, probably the best young tighthead, also pretty fast and a disciplined player as well


Hookers:
Florin Bardasu (Stiinta Baia Mare) - controversial, I'd have prefered Badiu from Iasi

Locks:
Ionut Muresan (Timisoara Saracens) - Toader from Iasi would have made more sense...he rarely played

Backrow:
Vasile Rus (Timisoara) - absolutely shocking call up, he doesn't deserve a place there at all; One young player should have had a chance like Nistor (Albi), Motoc (Paris), Ilie (Iasi)


Scrum half:
Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara Saracens) - I fail to see how his current form justify this call up...time to try other players

Fly half:
Ovidiu Melniciuc (U Cluj) - he was decent but hopefully players like Plai or Boldor will have their chance soon, both were good in Super Liga


Centres:
Florin Popa (Timisoara Saracens) - he gets nowhere near the first XV for club so it doesn't make sense to call him before players like Ionita.
Tangimana Fonovai (Timisoara Saracens) - welcome, excellent addition!

Wingers:
Stephen Shennan (Timisoara Saracens) - nice to see he's back in business
Ionut Dumitru (CSA Steaua) - well deserved call up
Madalin Lemnaru (Timisoara Saracens) - why??
Nicolas Onutu (La Voulte-Valence) - why??
Zaharia from Timisoara showed better form than both Lemnaru and Onutu, yes he's not experienced enough but still...you could have had Ionita at center and Fonovai winger and an young player

Fullbacks:
Marius Simionescu (Timisoara Saracens) - well deserved call up, hopefully he's Fercu's heir.

15 players from Timisoara is too much considering their poor form which was visible from the start of season, not only now.

Calling up Rus is a big blunder especially considering his poor form and his awful disciplinary record and constant quarrels with refs.

Iasi doesn't have any players in the team which imo is quite a bad decision, they were constantly over Dinamo, Cluj and CSM Bucuresti and have many players with potential.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

A very conservative selection it seems at a time you should be experimenting a bit for the next RWC, particularly with three home games against lower ranked nations. You'll not be surprised I am very disappointed at no Plai who I would argue was the best 10 in the Superliga in the first half of the season and at 23 is old enough to be getting experience. Agree that there are too many Timisoara when Steaua and BM are similar in quality.

Have to say Romania vs USA is one I am reallly looking forward to after seeing a lot of their respective leagues this season.

 

[dragos03]

I wouldn't say it's conservative, more like strange. The selection includes some older players who seem way past their best (Calafeteanu, Rus, etc) but also some youngsters who are barely tested at club level (Onutu) and even one player who I think wasn't ever used at senior level yet (Popa).

We will surely beat Uruguay and hopefully Canada as well. We are the underdogs against the USA, for some reason they have always been able to outplay us. Ironically, I think the last match of Rus for the national team was vs the USA in Bucharest a few years ago, when he got red carded after punching an opponent for no apparent reason.

 

[dragos03]

The Oaks squad just became severely weaker since the Ursache brothers Andrei (prop, Carcassonne) and Valentin (backrow, Oyonnax) will not play in November due to family reasons.

They have been replaced by:
- prop Ionel Badiu (Carcassonne)
- backrow Cristi Chirica (Baia Mare) - young upcapped player

 

[dragos03]

King's Cup day 5:
Timisoara Saracens - Steaua 22-9 > a much needed win for Timisoara, a fourth defeat in a row would have been diastrous
Baia Mare - Poli Iasi 33-19 > Iasi is increasingly competitive against the top clubs
U Cluj - CSM Bucuresti 19-13 > Cluj are always focused at home vs teams of similar strength

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I'm not too surprised to see Timisoara play better. Even though they lost both games in the CC it is normal to play better for a while after playing stronger teams.