Tincu boost for Romania

Romania will welcome back skipper Marius Tincu for Saturday's World Cup opener with Scotland.

Inspirational captain to lead from the front

Romania will welcome back inspirational skipper Marius Tincu for Saturday's World Cup opener with Scotland. Tincu, who scored three tries in the 2007 tournament, missed Romania's last two fixtures - including the 41-16 thumping of Ukraine. However the all-action hooker is one of eight survivors from the Mighty Oaks side that faced the All Blacks in their last World Cup encounter four years ago. Scrum-half Lucian Sirbu will add to the experience in the side, appearing in his fourth World Cup, while Marin Danut Dumbrava will be handed the task keeping the scoreboard ticking over. However it is upfront Romania will be at their strongest and coach Romeo Gontineac insists they will look to disrupt Scotland's play in Invercargill.

Fast

Gontineac said: "Scotland will try to play their own game. We'll try to slow down their game and play our own game. "Scotland is a big team, a team that has played such good rugby. We are going to try and limit them. They like to play a fast game, and it will be hard for us. But we will not drop the guns for this match. "We are looking to (play) the most experienced team. It will be a hard match and most people didn't even expect us to be here. We know it will be a very hard game for us. "We need the team to be able to go forward." Romania: 15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Stefan Eugen Ciuntu, 13 Csaba Minya Gal, 12 Tiberius Ionut Dimofte, 11 Madalin Vlad Lemnaru, 10 Marin Danut Dumbrava, 9 Lucian Mihai Sirbu, 8 Daniel Carpo, 7 Ovidiu Tonita, 6 Mihai Macovei, 5 Cristian Constantin Petre, 4 Valentin Neculai Ursache, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Marius Tincu (c), 1 Mihaita Alexandru Lazar.
Replacements: 16 Bogdan Zebega Suman, 17 Silviu Florea, 18 Valentin Poparlan, 19 Sandu Stelian Burcea, 20 Florin Surugiu, 21 Ionel Cazan, 22 Florin Adrian Vlaicu.