Romanian Rugby

[dragos03]

The result is quite unfair, Timsioara played well in the first 30 minutes and the last 25. There was a patch of 25 minutes in the middle when they conceded 6 tries, it all started after a yellow card for Morrisson.

The problem wasn't Umaga but Calafeteanu, as always. At least 3 of the tries were directly his fault, one after a missed tackle and the other two after his passes got intercepted. I think the coach finally had enough, since he replaced him with Conache who is not a scrum half but did much better anyway. Harlequins didn't score any more points after this substitution...

The result is very bad but maybe not as shameful as other scores registeted this weekend (Munster vs Leicester, Saracens vs Sale).

I fear the worst in the London match next week.

 

[dragos03]

Octavian Morariu was unanimously re-elected for a new mandate of four years as president of Rugby Europe. Morariu is a former Romanian international and FRR president, known for reforming the union. Viaceslav Kopiev (Russia), Rob Udwin (England), Madeleine Lathi (Sweden) and Fabiel Pelous (France) were voted as Rugby Europe vice-presidents.

 

[dragos03]

Timisoara Saracens was beated by the Harlequins in London by a recod margin, 75-3.

It could have been even worse, Timisoara played in 14 the entire match (Morrisson got a red after just 2 minutes) against a full-strength Quins side. Fercu, Burcea, Rose, Rus didn't play while Kinikinilau was injured after 9 minutes.

At least the youngsters got to play, Popa for 70 minutes while Simionescu came on at half time.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Ouch. What was the sending off for? At least some French side got thrashed 71-3 by the Ospreys, so Timisoara have good company. Strangely happy to read about the sending off as if that was the score with fifteen men it'd be utterly abject.

 

[dragos03]

It was for a high tackle but most of the Harlequins fans on their forum agree that it was a very harsh call and should have been only a yellow.

Timisoara's squad was depleted while the Quins had all their top players (Jamie Roberts, Mike Brown, etc), when I saw the early red card on the live text updates, I feared they might lose by 100 points.

This is the end of a cycle for Timisoara, the current squad has won them many ***les but many of the players are old. They will need some good transfers and a lot of work to rebuild a competitive group, hopefully they will be able to beat Krasny Yar and qualify for the Challenge Cup again and maybe have a bit of luck at the draw and get an easier group.

What a shameful result for Grenoble, and they played 15 vs 15.

 

[amz]

I think the refereeing was generally a bit harsh with Timisora, first try conceded in Challenge Cup was from a big forward pass, than an easy yellow when the team did well, red from 3rd minute but it's part of the game, I am pointing for years they have discipline issues and the management encourage the players and this is wrong as same players have a rather different attitude when play for Oaks.

Well, disappointing debut in European Cups for Timisoara but I saw it coming, the drop of form was obvious and the lack of solutions from technical stuff was obvious as well. Frankly I think Timisoara is a hat too big for Mr. Heinkell. Even if he's Kiwi he didn't bring anything in team's play since he's in charge (2 seasons already I think) and did not tackled any of the obvious issues (lack of discipline, breakdown, too narrow defense).

I don't think the real value of the team worth 60+ pts, I think they can be better, I don't think they have squad issues, just lack of real competition between players, thing encouraged by the staff and leadership of the club.

A good idea would be to try to sign Moffat, he'll spend time in Romania with Oaks and also I think he's a very skilled coach.

 

[amz]

https://rugbyest.com/stefan-mitrea-superliga-to-expand-to-8-teams-in-2017

Super Liga to expand to 8 teams next season

 

[dragos03]

It seems that CSM Bucharest fullback Atelea Okati has died in a car accident while on holiday at home in Tonga. He was a Tongan 7s international and a fast and exciting player, in my opinion.

RIP

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Sorry to hear about the Tongan player.

https://rugbyest.com/stefan-mitrea-superliga-to-expand-to-8-teams-in-2017

I missed this, a very interesting article that raises several questions.

- What happens if Navodari doesn't come first? Will they still be promoted?
- Did Romania want two teams in the EPCR this year and if so why was it not allowed?
- Are the clubs privately owned? Would this explain why Iasi and Cluj have more issues than other clubs?
- how does stadium development for other sports result in upgrades for rugby stadia? I'd consider them completely different in Scotland unless you were going to have AstroTurf. And even then each sport is so competitive and won't cooperate.

Great to hear about a league with limited resource still being open to helping out rugby in neighbouring countries like Moldova and Ukraine even if sadly there is nothing firm in the pipeleine. It makes me even more embarrassed to be Scottish/Italian (although at least the FIR are trying something with the Challenge Cup qualifiers & Scotland are playing lots of Tier 2 nations now).

 

[dragos03]

I guess the FRR would still allow Navodari to promote even if they don't win the second division, but the club might fear they aren't ready and refuse.

The clubs are private entities supported by the local authorities. Some manage to get decent funding from them, others (like Cluj) rerceive only minor support. To complete their budget, clubs have to look for private sponsors as well.

The FRR leaders have manage to include the Arcul de Triumf Stadium on the list of venues for Euro 2020, it will be completely rebuilt with government funds and used as a training base by the visiting football teams, I think that's a great deal. The reconstruction of 3 other football stadiums in Bucharest will surely benefit rugby, if a Tier 1 nation ever comes to play in Bucharest, one of these brand new stadiums with a capacity between 15k and 35k seats can be used.

There are more new stadiums under construction around the country, I hope the Oaks will play there in order to increase the popularity of rugby:-
- Craiova (http://www.archdaily.com/387797/craiova-football-stadium-proposal-proiect-bucuresti)
- Arad (http://stadiumdb.com/news/2015/11/new_design_heres_the_future_of_arad)

In other news, it seems that Alin Petrache will return as FRR president after the elections in February. I think this could be great for Romanian rugby, we need a leader with ambition and determination, Petrache has saved the Oaks from collapse and created the Superliga, it's time to continue his work.

 

[dragos03]

In 2008, a young Daniel Plai was happy to meet his favourite player Catalin Fercu after a Nations Cup match. Nine years later they trained together at the national team and Plai will probably earn his first cap soon.

The Oaks will start their season with a training camp in Portugal (to escape the Romanian winter) and play a test vs the hosts. The first REC match is in Germany of February 11.

 

[amz]

Michel Bradley is new CSM Bucharest coach! He'll also take care of the junior teams of the club. Awesome signing by CSM.

Article in Romanian:
https://www.super-liga.ro/2017/01/0...ste-noul-antrenor-principal-al-csm-bucuresti/

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I didn't realise he was head coach at Edinburgh when they reached the Heineken Cup semifinals? He has the calibre more of a candidate for the national side than lowly CSM Olimpia and his historic focus on youth rugby can only be a positive too. Who is providing the money to make that sort of appointment?

EDIT: Lynn Jones has previously said he would stand down in 2017, which would be too early for Bradley to be a candidate for the national job I would imagine?

 

[dragos03]

Bradley is surely the coach with the best CV in the Superliga. I like his focus on youth and his time in Georgia, he already knows how rugby works in Eastern Europe.

CSM is a multi-sports club with a lot of money, being supported by the wealthy Bucharest city hall. Their woman handball team has won the EHF Champions League last season and some of their athletes are Olympic medal winners. The rugby section has always been somehow neglected but the appointment of former FRR president Alin Petrache as head of the club was a great news for them.

Petrache will use the city hall resources to take CSM to the top of the league. The appointment of Bradley is just the first step, I expect some spectacular players transfers. This is great for the Superliga, a strong Bucharest club able to challenge Timisoara and Baia Mare will make it much more competitive.

 

[dragos03]

Bradley started his job at CSM by leading the team to downtown Bucharest, where they helped clear the snow from major boulevards after traffic was crippled by strong blizzards.

 

[dragos03]

The Oaks will play a warm-up match for the ENC against Portugal in Lisbon on February 4. I think this is a very useful test for both nations.

News from Timisoara:
- the match against Stade Francais was is real danger to be cancelled by snow. The club made a major effort and spent 10k euro to bring a 7 ton generator from Bucharest in order to unfreeze the pitch. The ERCC has rejected Timisoara's request at the start of the season not to schedule any match in Romania during January in order to avoid the worst of the winter.
- captain Stelian Burcea will leave the club and probably sign for CSM Bucharest.
- Timisoara has announced a plan to reach teh Challenge Cup quarterfinals by 2021, which includes the construction of a dedicated 5000 seats rugby stadium in the city.
- Burcea, Kinikinilau, Fonovai and Militaru are injured and unavailable for the Stade Francais match, as well as Morrisson (red carded in London).

Timisoara Saracens:
1. Edmund Aholelei, 2. Andrei Radoi, 3. Horatiu Pungea , 4. Valentin Poparlan, 5. Marian Drenceanu, 6. Daniel Gabriel Ianus, 7. Dorin Lazar, 8. Vasile Rus, 9. Valentin Calafeteanu; 10. Jody Rose, 11. Stephen Shennan; 12. Jack Umaga, 13. Brian Sefanaia, 14. Madalin Lemnaru, 15. Catalin Fercu; Rezerve: 16. Eugen Capatana 17. Samuel Maris , 18. Sione Halalilo, 19. Ionut Muresan, 20. Marian Gorcioaia, 21. Gabriel Conache, 22. Florin Popa, 23. Tevita Manumua.

Stade Francais:
1. Zurabi Jvania, 2. Laurent Panis, 3. Ghiorghi Melikidze, 4. Mathieu De Giovanni, 5. Pascal Pape, 6. Sylvain Nicolas, 7. Patrick Sio, 8. Willem Alberts,9. Clement Daguin; 10. Herman Meyer Bosman,11. Josaia Raisuqe; 12. Theo Millet, 13. Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 14. Julien Arias, 15. Djibril Camara; Rezerve: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Aled De Malmanche , 18. Benjamin Espinal, 19. Paul Gabrillagues, 20. Raphael Lakafia, 21. Arthur Coville, 22. Jules Plisson, 23. Jeremy Sinzelle.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/suspicion-over-why-timisoara-stade-was-cancelled/

This was a good read. Really highlights how underhand a club can be. I particularly liked the photo posted by Stade of a random patch of snowy grass!

I am loosely aware of ways you could potentially evidence that that photo was not taken on the day of the match. Although this would not be of any use if they have simply taken a photo of another snowy patch of grass near the stadium.

 

[dragos03]

Sadly, the EPCR will still most likely rule in Stade's favour and even impose a fine to Timisoara but at least many rugby fans will now know the facts. I was too ****** off to post antything here after the "match".

That photo can be from the stadium but not from the actual playing surface, there are some uncleaned and unheated patches on grass on the sidelines, visible in the first photo in the article.

 

[dragos03]

Timisoara has been severely punished by the EPCR and hit with a 30k EUR fine that can really hurt a poor club.

Harlequins fans have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the fine, a wonderful initiative:
https://www.gofundme.com/Timisoara

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

A tragically poor decision to provide the same sort of level of fine to a Superliga team than to a French or English top division side. Doubly annoyed having earlier in the season sat through a European cup fixture at a French ground where there was barely a blade of grass on the field due to nemotodes, and it was just a mud-bath. Far more dangerous for players than a pitch on a day when the temperature was +4 degrees celsius.