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Romania look to raise standard

Romania looking to repeat 1990 defeat of France

Romania's rugby fortunes have been intrinsically linked with France, both on and off the pitch, giving coach Daniel Santamans cause for optimism ahead of the World Cup.

The greatest moment in the Oaks' rugby history came on French soil in 1990 when they managed to record a shock 12-6 win over France at the Stade du Moulias in Auch.

Santamans, a Frenchman and a former hooker for Toulouse, says his team, the majority of whom play their club rugby in France, can use that result for inspiration heading into the World Cup.

"Of course today's games are very different from those victories acquired in the earlier years," Santamans said.

"Things have changed a great deal in rugby in Romania and because of various factors the game has not evolved at the same rate and to the same extent here as with the other international teams.

"But the players can use the spirit of victory from that winning game period to inspire them to perform well in the tournament.

"We are determined to raise the general team standard and acquire a better international standing in the sport."

The major "factor" which Santamans hints at was the domestic upheaval in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused by the collapse of Nicolae Ceausescu's communist regime.

Romanian rugby suffered; two leading teams - Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest, who represented the police and the army respectively, saw their state funding fall.

Several leading rugby union players also lost their lives in the 1989 revolution. Among the dead was Romania's skipper, Florica Murariu, an army officer, who was shot dead at a roadblock.

But it was the deterioration in the level of professionalism in the game that followed immediately upon the heels of the 1995 World Cup which was the real undoing of the sport in Romania.

The level of playing numbers in the country suffered, as a mass exodus took place, and a whole generation of potential referees and administrators was lost as the domestic game deteriorated.

Romanian rugby reached an all-time low in 2001 when the national team were thrashed 134-0 by England at Twickenham.

The Romanians then turned to the country over whom they had recorded their finest international victory, France.

Octavian Morariu, who had returned to the country from France after the fall of communism was appointed the new president of the Romanian Rugby Federation.

Morariu sought the help of the French Rugby Federation in regard to finding and selecting the coaching staff of the national team.

Bernard Lapasset, the powerful president of the French federation, also helped the Romanians, and in 2002, Bernard Charreyre was appointed coach of the national team.

Under Charreyre, then followed by Phillipe Sauton and currently Santamans, the decline has been halted, and the team started slowly to climb from the basement level of international rugby.

The restructuring of the game in the country started to show benefits within the domestic game, which grew stronger. Despite an average showing at the 2003 World Cup in Australia there were early signs that the country was on the comeback trail.

In 2004, the Romanians scored a narrow 25-24 victory over Italy and then went on to claim the 2005-06 European Nations Cup, that also served as a qualifying group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Santamans says the game is improving in Romania after several years of stagnation and hopes there will be no repeat of the 90-8 defeat by Australia or the 50-3 loss to Argentina in the 2003 competition.

"The domestic structure has now improved and the national team is a lot stronger than four years ago," he said.

"There are now a lot of players in Romania who are capable of winning contracts and doing well with top foreign clubs.

"It would be very interesting for them to play not only in France, but also in England and maybe even Scotland or Wales."

He is realistic though about Romania's prospects on the pitch in a World Cup group containing favourites New Zealand, Six Nations sides Scotland and Italy as well as tournament debutants Portugal.

"Pool C is a difficult pool, but perhaps no more so than any of the other groups in the competition," Santamans added.

"Scotland are a good team and Italy have also made much progress over the last three years in the Six Nations and will be a challenge for us.

"All of the matches will be difficult but Romania is hopeful to give a good account of themselves.

"The Portugal game represents our best chance of a win but perhaps we can raise our game to beat Italy and maybe even Scotland.

"We are preparing to counter the technical strengths of New Zealand but they are a very strong side with the best players in the world."

Despite his pragmatic outlook on his side's chances in the competition Santamans has not ruled out his side causing an upset.

"The team is ambitious and while not being pretentious, our daily motivation and objective is to create a surprise in the competition, although many of the Romanian players will be well known to the opposition," he said.

"Video footage of the international teams and players can be studied in order to detect and catalogue each individual's strengths and as far as possible avoid surprises.

"But rugby is still a game and surprises can still happen."