Romania national rugby union team

The Romania national rugby union team, nicknamed Stejarii (The Oaks), has long been considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the Rugby Europe International Championships, which they won in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation.

France first played rugby against Romania in 1924 when they tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations championship. Romania holds with 25 matches the record for the longest unbeaten run. Although not regarded as a first-tier team in more recent times, their history includes an away draw against Ireland, and wins against four (France, Italy, Scotland, Wales) of the other Six Nations Championship teams.

Romania played in every Rugby World Cup through to 2015, but were disqualified from the 2019 tournament after fielding an ineligible player during the qualification process. Romania returned to the 2023 Rugby World Cup and finished bottom of Pool B, losing all of their matches.

History

Early history

File:Romania national rugby team 1924.jpg

Romania at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France

The game itself was introduced by students returning with rugby balls from their studies in Paris to form clubs such as Stadiul Roman from 1913 onwards. Seventeen other teams would be formed in the capital, Bucharest.

Romania's first international was played against the US in 1919. France first officially played rugby union against Romania in May 1924 when they tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations Championship (now the Six Nations). France were victorious by 59 points to 3.

Romania were one of three teams who entered the 1924 Olympics in Paris. France won 59–3, scoring 13 tries including four by the fine Stade Francais winger Adolphe Jaureguy. The United States then defeated Romania 39–0. Romania finishing third claimed the bronze medal. The Federaţia Română de Rugby was formed in 1931. In 1939 a team was formed in Braşov at an aircraft factory. This was the first team outside Bucharest.

Post-World War II

File:Sergio Lanfranchi and Viorel Morariu 1962.jpg

Viorel Morariu (right) captained Romania in the 1950s and early 1960s

File:Alex Penciu.jpg

Alex Penciu, one of Romania's greatest players in the 1960s.

File:Romania national rugby team 1980.jpg

The Oaks starting lineup that beat France 15–0 in November 1980.

File:Romania national rugby team 1983.jpg

The Oaks before a test match against Wales in 1983.

A generation of French school trained coaches from late 1940s, and 1950s built a system and led the national team to success of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In this era Romania began to compete more regularly against the major nations. Their first win over France came in 1960 in Bucharest, in a tour match won by 11–5. In 1974 Romania won against France 15–10 in Bucharest, and the FIRA – Association of European Rugby championship. In 1975 Romania went for an 8-game tour to New Zealand, concluding in Wellington with a 10–10 draw against the Junior All Blacks. Exposure to international rugby developed the country's game and they began to form their own distinctive style of play, built around strong, bruising packs. That Romania was emerging as a real force on the world stage became clear on their 1979 Romania rugby union tour of Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, in an unofficial, non-cap international. The Oaks led going into the dying minutes, when only a last-gasp drop goal from Gareth Davies gave a narrow 13–12 victory for Wales. The improvement continued in 1980, when Romania crushed the French in a record 15–0 win in Bucharest. A trip to Lansdowne Road in the 1980 Romania rugby union tour of Ireland then yielded a 13–13 draw against Ireland in another unofficial, non-cap match.

In the 1980s the country boasted more than 12,000 players in 110 clubs. Home nations sides began to award international caps for matches against Romania in 1981; Scotland were the first to do so when Romania visited them on their 1981 tour, Scotland winning the international by 12 points to 6. Wales travelled to Bucharest in November 1983 and were totally overwhelmed, falling to a 24–6 defeat. Romania's first win over Scotland came in Bucharest in 1984 and their first away win against Five Nations opposition came in 1988 against Wales; 15–9 at Cardiff Arms Park.

Their national side beat Wales (twice – 1983: 24–6 in Romania, 1988: 15–9 in Wales), Scotland (the 1984 Grand Slam side 28–22 in Romania), France (twice 1980: 15–0 in Romania, 1982: 13–9 in Romania) and drew with Ireland (13–13, in 1980, at Dublin). In 1981, they lost to the All Blacks 14–6 but had two tries disallowed. Many felt it was wrong for the rugby union powers to fail to bring them into top-flight competition. Romania beat Zimbabwe 21–20 in their first ever Rugby World Cup match in 1987 but did not win any other games and failed to progress beyond the group stage.

After the collapse of Communism

However, with the deterioration of the domestic political and economic situation in the country in the 1990s, Romanian rugby union suffered; the two leading rugby union teams – Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest, represented the police and the army respectively, so their state funding fell.

Post-revolution, Romanian rugby union was still alive and kicking. In 1990 they recorded a prestigious win to date by beating France 12–6 on French soil for the first time. The following year they beat Scotland 18–12. At the 1991 World Cup they beat Fiji 17–15 and as recently as the 1995 World Cup, Romania held the eventual winners South Africa to a highly respectable 21–8.

The professionalism that followed immediately upon the heels of that World Cup was the undoing of the sport in Romania. Approximately 200 Romanian players are thought to be playing in France and Italy. It was not just playing numbers that suffered, but a whole generation of potential referees and administrators was lost to the game. By 1994 Romania's rugby fortunes had declined sharply, when a Welsh team travelled to Bucharest for an uncapped international the visitors came away with a 16–9 win. In 1997 the Romanians toured Wales. They lost 36–21 to Wales A at Pontypridd and 70–21 in a test held in Wrexham. At the 1999 World Cup Romania could again only manage a single win 27–25 against the United States.

The new millennium

File:Arcul de Triumf stadium.jpg

Romania plays its home games at the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest.

File:Ireland vs Romania rugby match.jpg

Romania playing Ireland at Lansdowne Road in 2005.

In 2000, Romania won the first European Nations Cup by a large margin, recording victories in all four matches. By 2001, Romania had been caught by the likes of Georgia who defeated them to take the 2001 European Nations Cup, crowned with a decisive 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest. The national side lost to England by 134–0 in 2001 and Dinamo Bucharest lost 151–0 to Saracens in the European Rugby Shield. Several French-based players refused to turn up for the England debacle simply because their clubs refused to pay them for the week. Players in that Romanian squad were getting £30 a day in expenses while England's top earners scooped £6,000 for their afternoon's work.

In January 2002, Bernard Charreyre was appointed coach of the national team both supplied by and paid by the French Rugby Federation (FFR). Under Charreyre (known by The Oaks as 'Little Napoleon'), the Oaks' decline has been stopped and the team has started to slowly climb from the basement of international rugby union. With a change of format in the European Nations Cup, Romania started in 2002 trailing Georgia due to the inclusion of 2001 results. The Oaks won all of the remaining five games, including a hard-fought 31–23 victory in Tbilisi to win the tournament. They qualified for the World Cup in 2003, where they beat Namibia and lost to Ireland (45–17), after an honourable display, and then to Australia (90–8) and Argentina (50–3). Charreyre was dismissed after the World Cup as the Romanian Federation was not satisfied by the World Cup performance and decided not to renew his contract. Three other French coaches followed: first, Phillipe Sauton, for a very short period, Robert Antonin as a temporary stand-in and then Daniel Santamans.

In the 2003–2004 European Nations Cup, Portugal were surprise 16–15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves on the top of the 2003 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania seemed back on track (36–6 against Portugal in Constanţa), but went down 24–33 to Russia in Krasnodar following allegations of players having been doped. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19–18 win over Russia in Lisbon. In 2004, the Romanians scored a narrow 25–24 victory over Italy, their first victory to date over a Six Nations Championship side.

In 2005 Romania was given 'second tier' status by the IRB and replaced Russia in the Super Powers Cup. The USA beat a Romanian team stripped of their France-based players 23–16 in the third place play-off. The 2005–06 European Nations Cup also served as a qualifying group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Romania triumphed despite finishing level on points with Georgia.

Romania qualified for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, finishing at the top of their pool during the Round 5 of the European qualifying tournaments. Romania won their first qualifying match on 7 October, defeating Georgia in Bucharest 20–8. Their 43–20 win over Spain in Madrid on 14 October ensured that they qualified directly for the World Cup in 2007. In June 2007, Romania hosted the IRB Nations Cup in Bucuresti. In the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, Romania won a bonus point in the 18–24 loss to Italy and to win a second game with Portugal by a narrow margin (14–10), but suffered heavy losses to Scotland (42–0) and New Zealand (85–8).

On 21 March 2009, Romania lost 22–21 at home to Portugal, leaving them with an uphill struggle to qualify for the 2011 World Cup – qualification for which is determined by performances in the European Nations Cup in 2009 and 2010. Romania went unbeaten, with a draw at Russia, in the 2010 phase of the European Nations Cup. The Oaks' strong finish put them in third place and the final phase of the European qualification playoffs, in which they easily defeated Ukraine over two legs (94–10 on aggregate) for the European place in the Final Place Playoff for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Romania emerged as the last qualifier for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand by overcoming first Tunisia in a winner-takes-it-all game (56–13) and later Uruguay (60–33 on aggregate). Thus, the Oaks are one of only 12 teams to participate at all World Cups alongside New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina, Canada, and Japan.

In November 2016, Romania achieved home soil wins against the US, Canada and Uruguay.

In 2018, Romania finished top of the Rugby Europe Championship, meaning they qualified for the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be played in Japan in 2019. But after the conclusion of the tournament World Rugby conducted a review of player eligibility and found Romania fielded Sione Faka'osilea, who previously played for the Tonga Sevens team, which made him ineligible to play for Romania in the competition. Romania was stripped of 30 competition points, which placed them third and meant that they failed to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, with Russia taking their place.

On 29 May 2018, it was confirmed that Romania had appealed the decision. On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld, meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilst Germany advanced to round 6.

Honours

• Rugby union at the Summer Olympics
  • Bronze Medal (1): 1924
• Rugby Europe International Championships
  • Winner (10): 1968–1969, 1974–1975, 1976–1977, 1980–1981, 1982–1983, 2000, 2001–2002, 2004–2006, 2010, 2017
  • Runners-Up (14)
  • Third-Place (12)
• Antim Cup
  • Winner (6): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2017
• World Rugby Nations Cup
  • Winner (4): 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016

Record

Romania holds the record for the longest unbeaten run: 25 matches in between May 1959 and November 1964.

Wins against Tier 1 nations

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Status
14 April 1940	Romania	3–0	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
5 June 1960	Romania	11–5	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
10 June 1962	Romania	14–6	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
11 November 1962	Romania	3–0	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 May 1967	Romania	15–14	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1966–67 FIRA Nations Cup
1 December 1968	Romania	24–3	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1968–69 FIRA Nations Cup
25 October 1970	Italy	3–14	Romania	Template:Flagicon Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini, Rovigo	1969–70 FIRA Nations Cup
11 April 1971	Romania	32–6	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1970–71 FIRA Nations Cup
13 October 1974	Romania	15–10	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1974–75 FIRA Trophy
14 November 1976	Romania	15–12	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1976–77 FIRA Trophy
1 May 1977	Romania	69–0	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1976–77 FIRA Trophy
22 April 1979	Romania	44–0	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1978–79 FIRA Trophy
23 November 1980	Romania	15–0	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1980–81 FIRA Trophy
12 April 1981	Romania	35–9	Italy	Template:Flagicon Brăila	1980–81 FIRA Trophy
31 October 1982	Romania	13–9	France	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1982–83 FIRA Trophy
10 April 1983	Romania	13–6	Italy	Template:Flagicon Buzău	1982–83 FIRA Trophy
12 November 1983	Romania	24–6	Wales	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
20 May 1984	Romania	28-22	Scotland	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 April 1985	Romania	7–6	Italy	Template:Flagicon Brașov	1984–85 FIRA Trophy
12 April 1987	Romania	9–3	Italy	Template:Flagicon Constanța	1985–87 FIRA Trophy
2 April 1988	Italy	3–12	Romania	Template:Flagicon San Siro, Milan	1987–89 FIRA Trophy
10 December 1988	Wales	9–15	Romania	Template:Flagicon Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	Test Match
15 April 1989	Romania	28–4	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1987–89 FIRA Trophy
14 April 1990	Italy	9–16	Romania	Template:Flagicon Frascati	1989–90 FIRA Trophy
24 May 1990	France	6–12	Romania	Template:Flagicon Stade du Moulias, Auch	1989–90 FIRA Trophy
31 August 1991	Romania	18–12	Scotland	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match
14 May 1994	Romania	26–12	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	1992–94 FIRA Trophy
26 June 2004	Romania	25–24	Italy	Template:Flagicon Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest	Test Match

European competitions

Romania's only annual tournament is a competition involving Europe's tier 2 and tier 3 national teams. From 1936 through 1938, they competed in the FIRA Tournament against France, Germany and Italy. In 1965 until 1973 the FIRA Nations Cup was formed allowing other teams to be promoted or relegated from the competition. Romania won the competition once in 1969, being the only team to defeat France.

Pre–WWII Tournament (1936–1938)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	6	6	0	0	133	48	+85	–	3
Germany	6	3	0	3	83	92	−9	–	0
Italy	5	3	0	2	75	76	−1	–	0
Romania	7	1	0	6	81	114	−33	–	0
Belgium	2	1	0	1	20	48	−28	–	0
Netherlands	2	0	0	2	8	62	−54	–	0

FIRA Nations Cup (1965–1973)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	26	25	0	1	824	198	+626	65	7
Romania	26	17	1	8	528	222	+306	51	1
Czechoslovakia	17	2	2	13	135	411	−267	16	0
Morocco	9	2	0	7	65	332	−267	13	0
Italy	13	4	1	8	86	227	−141	12	0
West Germany	10	1	1	8	81	132	−51	6	0
Spain	3	1	0	2	56	55	+1	5	0
Poland	3	0	0	3	19	132	−113	3	0
Portugal	3	0	0	3	23	108	−85	0	0

European Nations Cup (2000–present)

Winners

Year		First Division					Lower Division Champions
		Winner	Second	Third	Relegated		Division 2	Division 3
2000		Romania	Georgia	Morocco			Russia	Czech Republic
2001		Georgia	Romania	Russia			Poland	Not played
2001–2002		Romania	Georgia	Russia	Netherlands		Czech Republic	Slovenia
2003–2004		Portugal	Romania	Georgia	Spain		Ukraine	Moldova
2004–2006		Romania	Georgia	Portugal	Ukraine		Spain	Latvia
2006–2008		Georgia	Russia	Romania	Czech Republic		Germany	Sweden
2008–2010		Georgia	Russia	Portugal	Germany		Ukraine	Lithuania
2010		Romania	Georgia	Russia
2011		Georgia	Romania	Portugal	Ukraine		Belgium	Sweden
2012		Georgia	Spain	Romania
2013		Georgia	Romania	Russia	Belgium		Germany	Netherlands
2014		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2015		Georgia	Romania	Spain	Portugal		Belgium	Estonia
2016		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2017		Romania	Georgia	Spain	–		Portugal	Czech Republic / Malta
2018		Georgia	Russia	Germany	–
2019		Georgia	Spain	Romania	Germany
2020		Georgia	Spain	Romania	Belgium		Netherlands
2021		Georgia	Romania	Portugal	–
2022		Georgia	Romania	Spain	Russia		Belgium	Sweden / Croatia
2023		Georgia	Portugal	Romania	–
2024		Georgia	Portugal	Spain	Poland

All-time table

	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	AVPPG	Pts	Champs
Georgia	100	83	4	13	3096	1151	+1945	30.96	334	11
Romania	100	72	2	26	3024	1311	+1713	30.24	288	5
Russia	85	47	3	34	2190	1788	+402	26.07	186	0
Portugal	85	35	3	47	1605	1865	−260	18.88	152	1
Spain	80	25	4	51	1575	2020	−445	19.69	145	0
Czech Republic	29	6	0	23	362	1075	−713	12.48	40	0
Germany	25	3	1	21	341	1064	−723	13.64	26	0
Netherlands	15	1	0	14	278	652	−374	18.53	17	0
Ukraine	20	1	0	19	201	998	−797	10.05	15	0
Morocco	5	3	0	2	94	69	+25	18.80	11	0
Belgium	20	2	1	17	204	412	−208	13.6	8	0

Rivalries

Romania and Georgia have enjoyed a rivalry between the two most successful teams in the European Nations Cup. The winner of the rivalry takes home the Antim Cup.

Rugby World Cup

Romania had competed in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987; that streak ended in 2018, when they were expelled from the 2019 tournament via points deduction for fielding ineligible players. Their best finish was with one win in 1987, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. They lost all pool matches in 1995, 2011 and 2023.

Overall

Template:World Rugby Rankings Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Romania national XV at test level up until 22 November 2025, updated after match with Uruguay.

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	9	0	9	0	0.00%	114	341	−227
A	6	4	2	0	66.67%	127	126	+1
Australia	3	0	3	0	0.00%	20	189	−169
Belgium	10	10	0	0	100%	478	118	+360
Brazil	2	2	0	0	100%	78	26	+52
Bulgaria	2	2	0	0	100%	170	3	+167
Canada	11	8	3	0	72.73%	226	225	+1
Chile	3	2	1	0	66.67%	73	74	-1
Czech Republic	6	6	0	0	100%	307	53	+254
Czechoslovakia	18	17	0	1	94.44%	349	105	+244
East Germany	13	12	0	1	92.31%	393	69	+324
England	5	0	5	0	0.0%	24	335	−311
Fiji	3	1	2	0	33.33%	42	70	−28
France	50	8	40	2	16%	462	1,315	−853
A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	20	−4
France XV	5	0	5	0	0.00%	30	153	−123
Georgia	30	9	20	1	30%	457	703	−246
Germany	13	8	5	0	61.54%	463	178	+285
Ireland	10	0	10	0	0.00%	110	472	−362
Ireland XV	1	0	0	1	0.90%	13	13	+0
Template:Flagicon Emerging Ireland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	10	31	−21
Italy	44	16	25	3	36.36%	654	711	−57
A	4	2	2	0	50%	65	87	−22
Emerging Italy	2	2	0	0	100%	43	26	+17
Japan	6	1	5	0	16.67%	119	152	−33
Japan XV	1	1	0	0	100%	30	25	+5
Morocco	8	7	1	0	87.5%	342	56	+286
Namibia	6	5	1	0	83.33%	158	66	+92
Netherlands	9	9	0	0	100%	390	73	+317
New Zealand	2	0	2	0	0.00%	14	99	−85
New Zealand XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	30	60	−30
A	1	0	0	1	0.00%	10	10	+0
Poland	18	16	2	0	88.89%	601	178	+423
Portugal	31	25	6	0	80.65%	911	441	+470
Russia	24	16	7	1	66.67%	580	347	+233
Samoa	3	2	1	0	66.67%	49	59	−10
Scotland	14	2	12	0	15.38%	192	559	−367
A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	18	21	−3
South Africa	2	0	2	0	0.00%	8	97	−89
Template:Flagicon Emerging Springboks	2	0	2	0	0.00%	20	86	−66
Soviet Union	15	12	3	0	80%	251	153	+98
Spain	40	35	5	0	87.5%	1,148	482	+666
Tonga	6	3	3	0	50%	136	144	−8
Tunisia	5	4	1	0	80%	189	42	+147
Ukraine	7	7	0	0	100%	400	43	+357
United States	12	3	9	0	27.27%	161	307	−146
Uruguay	16	10	5	1	62.5%	404	312	+92
Wales	8	2	6	0	25%	96	342	−246
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	13	−1
West Germany	9	8	1	0	88.89%	199	69	+130
Zimbabwe	4	4	0	0	100%	123	84	+39
Total	504	281	211	12	55.75%	11,315	9,763	+1,552

Players

Current squad

On 29 October, Romania named a 37-player squad ahead of their November international against Canada, USA, and Uruguay.

Head Coach: Template:Flagicon David Gérard

• Caps Updated: 22 November 2025 (after Romania v Uruguay)

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
	Template:Rugby squad role		12	Castres Olympique
	Template:Rugby squad role		23	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		39	Baia Mare
	Template:Rugby squad role		13	West Harbour
	Template:Rugby squad role		28	Steaua București
	Template:Rugby squad role		12	Dax
	Template:Rugby squad role		20	Stade Montois
	Template:Rugby squad role		28	Dinamo București
	Template:Rugby squad role		11	Dinamo București
	Template:Rugby squad role		47	Rapid
	Template:Rugby squad role		1	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		52	Narbonne
	Template:Rugby squad role		0	Steaua București
	Template:Rugby squad role		13	Baia Mare
	Template:Rugby squad role		18	Massy
	Template:Rugby squad role		0	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		7	Steaua București
	Template:Rugby squad role		6	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		23	Steaua București
	Template:Rugby squad role		23	Dinamo București
	Template:Rugby squad role		11	Soyaux Angoulême
	Template:Rugby squad role		28	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		24	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		28	Steaua București
	Template:Rugby squad role		41	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		1	Baia Mare
	Template:Rugby squad role		0	Rapid
	Template:Rugby squad role		34	Dinamo București
	Template:Rugby squad role		19	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		15	Dinamo București
	Template:Rugby squad role		11	Rapid
	Template:Rugby squad role		8	Nissa
	Template:Rugby squad role		28	Baia Mare
	Template:Rugby squad role		22	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		31	Annonay
	Template:Rugby squad role		36	Dinamo București
	Template:Rugby squad role		3	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		8	Timișoara
	Template:Rugby squad role		21	Baia Mare Notable players File:Mircea Paraschiv 1983.jpg Mircea Paraschiv captained Romania from 1976 to 1987. File:Florica Murariu 1980.jpg Florică Murariu was one of a number of Romanian rugby internationals who were killed during the Romanian Revolution in December 1989. File:Florin Vlaicu Penalty 2017.jpg Romania's current top point scorer and most capped player of all time, Florin Vlaicu. The 1924 Romania Olympic team are the only Romanian inductee to have been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. Nicolae Mărăscu captained the Hall of Fame side. The highest point of Mărăscu's career was at the 1924 tournament, earning Romania the bronze medal. He played as a centre and had five caps, without ever scoring, since his first match, in 1919, a 48–5 loss to France, in Paris, for the Inter-Allied Games, and his last, at 22 May 1927, in a 21–5 win over Czechoslovakia, in Bratislava. Iulian Dumitraș was Romania's main man. Dumitraș was known to be one of the Oaks' most gifted playmakers, with an accurate kicking boot and a penchant for sparking attacks. Having made his test debut in 2002, he went on to start in every match a Rugby World Cup 2007 in France, bringing plenty of experience to the nation. The then standing 1.88m and weighing in a 110 kg, Dumitraș was a punishing runner when he chimes into the line on attack, which he looked to do often, and he provided a solid and dependable last obstacle in defence. Sorin Socol is regarded by many good judges as the then best player in the current squad and was one of the rocks of the Romanian forward pack. He has captained the most matches to date for Romania, between 2003 and 2011. A total of 61 tests, 36 of them were as captain. He captained Romania for the first time on 30 October 2003 during the 2003 Rugby World Cup match against Namibia. He went on and featured in the 2007 World Cup squad and eventually retired from all international rugby after the 2011 tournament. Socol had one of Romania's highest winning percentage as a captain of 63.88. Florin Vlaicu is Romania's top ever point scorer and also the most capped player appearing in 104 tests so far. Vlaicu made his international debut in 2006 as a substitute against Ukraine. He played for Romania in the IRB Nations Cup and in their 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying before appearing for them in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played two Tests at the World Cup as a substitute against both Scotland and the All Blacks. He also played at the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups. Cristian Petre is Romania's most recognized player after dominating the lock position for eleven years. He is one of Romania's most capped player with a total of 92 matches and a career span that started in 2001 against England and ended in 2012 against Italy. Petre has featured in three Rugby World Cups, first in 2003, going on to feature in 2007 and his last being in 2011. Petre has scored a total of six tries and had winning percentage of 55.43. Cătălin Fercu is generally regarded as one of Romania's true global superstar of rugby union. Fercu is Romania's top try scorers. He had quickly made appearances on the international stage at a very young age and played against France and Scotland in the Autumn internationals in 2006. He also scored a try against the French. Fercu helped guide Romania to the 2007 Rugby World Cup as he played in the qualifier matches including the vital games against Georgia and Spain and scored a try against Spain in the game that sealed their qualification to the Rugby World Cup. Fercu was a late withdrawal from their Rugby World Cup squad in 2011 because he was not prepared to fly all the way to New Zealand. The Romanian side arrived in Christchurch to prepare for their first game of the tournament against Scotland in Invercargill on 10 September without Fercu, who failed to get on the plane when it left Romania. Another one of the Oaks greatest players are Romeo Gontineac, represented Romania in four Rugby World Cups from 1995 to 2007. The hard running centre, who became the national coach in 2010, was capped 75 times for the nation, scoring 13 tries and a drop goal. During his career he played professionally in Romania, South Africa and France. Members of the 1924 Olympics team Nicolae Anastasiade Dumitru Armășel Gheorghe Benția J. Cociociaho Constantin Crătunescu Teodor Florian Petre Ghițulescu Ion Gîrleșteanu Octav Luchide Jean Henry Manu Nicolae Mărăscu Teodor Marian Sorin Mihăilescu Paul Nedelcovici Iosif Nemeș Eugen Sfetescu Mircea Sfetescu Soare Sterian Mircea Stroescu Atanasie Tănăsescu Mihai Vardală Paul Vidrașcu Dumitru Volvoreanu Coaches Current coaching staff The current (November 2025) coaching staff of the Romanian national team: Name Nationality Role Iustin Ilioiu ROU Manager David Gérard FRA Head coach Juan Pablo Orlandi ARG Forwards coach Raphaël Francois Saint-André FRA Assistant coach with the three quarters and skills Benjamin Lapeyre FRA assistant coach – assistant coach and skills Michaël Dallery FRA Head trainer with physical training Paul Cere-Labourdette FRA Second coach with physical training & GPS Daniel Carpo ROU Second coach with physical training & GPS Petra Melinte ROU Doctor Marius Todosi ROU Physiotherapist Andrei Diaconeasa ROU Physiotherapist Gilles Soirat FRA Video analyst Fabian Bunu ROU Video analyst Former coaches Years Coach 1961–1965 Template:Flagicon Petre Cosmănescu 1965–1968 Template:Flagicon Viorel Morariu 1968–1972 Template:Flagicon Petre Cosmănescu 1973–1974 Template:Flagicon Valeriu Irimescu 1974–1981 Template:Flagicon Petre Cosmănescu 1985–1987 Template:Flagicon Theodor Rădulescu 1987–1989 Template:Flagicon Mihai Naca 1989–1990 Template:Flagicon Theodor Rădulescu 1991 Template:Flagicon Peter Ianusevici 1992–1994 Template:Flagicon Theodor Rădulescu 1994–1999 Template:Flagicon Mircea Paraschiv 1999–2001 Template:Flagicon Eduard Suciu 2002–2003 Template:Flagicon Bernard Charreyre 2004 Template:Flagicon Phillipe Sauton 2004 Template:Flagicon Robert Antonin 2005–2007 Template:Flagicon Daniel Santamans 2007–2008 Template:Flagicon Marin Moț 2008–2009 Template:Flagicon Ellis Meachen 2009 Template:Flagicon Marin Moț 2009–2010 Template:Flagicon Serge Lairle 2010–2011 Template:Flagicon Romeo Gontineac 2012 Template:Flagicon Haralambie Dumitraș 2013–2018 Template:Flagicon Lynn Howells 2018 Template:Flagicon Thomas Lièvremont 2019 Template:Flagicon Marius Țincu (interim) 2019–2022 Template:Flagicon Andy Robinson 2022–2023 Template:Flagicon Eugen Apjok 2024– Template:Flagicon David Gérard Individual all-time records Most caps # Player Pos Span Mat Start Sub Won Lost Draw % 1 Florin Vlaicu Centre 2006–2022 129 103 26 79 47 3 62.89 2 Cătălin Fercu Fullback 2005–2020 109 107 2 73 33 3 68.34 3 Florin Surugiu Scrum-half 2008–2024 108 68 40 64 43 1 62.35 4 Mihai Macovei Flanker 2006–2023 104 93 11 60 43 1 58.98 5 Valentin Calafeteanu Scrum-half 2004–2019 100 54 46 61 37 2 62.00 6 Cristian Petre Lock 2001–2012 92 83 9 50 40 2 55.43 7 Csaba Gál Centre 2005–2015 88 65 23 49 37 2 56.81 8 Valentin Popârlan Lock 2007–2020 77 50 27 48 29 0 62.33 9 Romeo Gontineac Centre 1995–2008 76 75 1 35 41 0 46.05 Adrian Lungu Centre 1980–1995 76 75 1 40 36 0 52.63 Lucian Sîrbu Scrum-half 1996–2011 76 62 14 40 34 2 53.94 Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. Most tries # Player Pos Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries 1 Cătălin Fercu Fullback 2005–2020 109 107 2 171 33 2 Gabriel Brezoianu Centre 1996–2007 71 67 4 142 28 3 Mihai Macovei Flanker 2006–2023 104 93 11 110 22 4 Ionut Dumitru Centre 2013–2022 55 49 6 85 17 5 Ovidiu Tonița Flanker 2000–2016 73 67 6 75 15 6 Petre Mitu Scrum-half 1996–2009 41 36 5 339 14 Cristian Săuan Wing 1999–2007 37 32 5 70 14 Marius Țincu Hooker 2002–2012 53 49 4 70 14 Florin Vlaicu Centre 2006–2022 129 103 26 1025 14 10 4 players on 13 tries Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. Most points # Player Pos Span Mat Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop 1 Florin Vlaicu Centre 2006–2022 129 1321 14 173 203 4 2 Dănuț Dumbravă Fly-half 2002–2015 73 389 3 73 74 2 3 Petre Mitu Scrum-half 1996–2009 41 339 14 55 53 0 4 Ionuţ Tofan Fly-half 1997–2007 60 316 12 53 46 4 5 Valentin Calafeteanu Scrum-half 2004–2019 100 233 11 32 37 1 6 Neculai Nichitean Fly-half 1990–1997 28 201 0 18 45 10 7 Ionel Melinte Fullback 2018–2024 29 176 9 37 19 0 8 Cătălin Fercu Fullback 2005–2020 109 171 33 1 1 0 9 Gelu Ignat Fly-half 1986–1992 25 148 1 15 32 6 10 Alin Conache Scrum-half 2023– 29 145 3 23 28 0 Last updated: Romania vs Uruguay, 22 November 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only. Most matches as captain # Player Pos Span Mat Won Lost Draw % Pts Tries 1 Mihai Macovei Flanker 2012–2023 72 47 24 1 68.10 105 21 2 Sorin Socol Lock 2001–2011 36 22 12 2 63.88 25 5 3 Stelian Burcea Flanker 2009–2018 19 13 6 0 68.42 15 3 4 Mircea Paraschiv Scrum-half 1980–1987 18 7 10 1 41.66 16 4 5 Haralambie Dumitras Number 8 1989–1993 14 5 9 0 35.71 20 5 Romeo Gontineac Centre 1999–2003 14 4 10 0 28.57 5 1 7 Tiberiu Brînză Number 8 1994–1997 13 1 12 0 7.69 5 1 8 Marius Țincu Hooker 2007–2012 11 5 6 0 45.45 0 0 9 Costica Mersoiu Number 8 2007–2008 10 6 4 0 60.00 5 1 10 Alin Petrache Number 8 1999–2004 7 3 4 0 42.85 0 0 Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. Most points in a match # Player Pos Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop Opposition Venue Date 1 Ionuţ Tofan Fly-half 32 2 8 2 0 Spain Template:Flagicon Iași 05/10/2002 2 Virgil Popisteanu Fly-half 27 0 12 1 0 Portugal Template:Flagicon Bucharest 13/04/1996 Petre Mitu Scrum-half 27 1 2 6 0 Portugal Template:Flagicon Lisbon 04/02/2001 4 Ionel Rotaru Wing 25 5 0 0 0 Portugal Template:Flagicon Bucharest 13/04/1996 5 Florin Vlaicu Fullback 24 1 8 0 1 Czech Republic Template:Flagicon Bucharest 22/03/2008 Florin Vlaicu Centre 24 1 2 5 0 Russia Template:Flagicon Bucharest 09/02/2013 7 Gelu Ignat Fly-half 22 0 5 4 0 Netherlands Template:Flagicon Treviso 30/09/1990 Petre Mitu Scrum-half 22 1 4 3 0 Russia Template:Flagicon Bârlad 18/03/2001 Ionuţ Tofan Fly-half 22 1 1 5 0 Russia Template:Flagicon Krasnodar 24/03/2002 10 5 players on 21 points Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. Most tries in a match # Player Pos Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop Opposition Venue Date 1 Gheorgie Rascanu Flanker 20 5 0 0 0 Morocco Template:Flagicon Bucharest 02/05/1972 Cornel Popescu Wing 20 5 0 0 0 Portugal Template:Flagicon Bârlad 18/10/1986 Ionel Rotaru Wing 25 5 0 0 0 Portugal Template:Flagicon Bucharest 13/04/1996 4 Petre Motrescu Wing 16 4 0 0 0 Italy Template:Flagicon Bucharest 01/05/1977 Gheorghe Solomie Wing 20 4 0 0 0 Belgium Template:Flagicon Brussels 04/10/1997 Lucian Colceriu Wing 20 4 0 0 0 Poland Template:Flagicon Bucharest 02/05/1998 7 11 players on 3 tries Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. Media coverage Romania's Rugby Europe Championship matches, mid year internationals and end of year internationals are currently televised by TVR. Kits and symbols Romania usually wears a yellow shirt with blue shorts and red socks as home uniform, with the exceptions being at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, where a light blue shirt with the Royal coat of arms was worn, as well in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, where a blue uniform was worn in all of the matches. Since 2014, the jerseys are adorned with Romanian traditional embroidering motifs and Dacian patterns. The origins of the oak leaf as symbol for the Romanian team date from 1979, after former Romanian international player Viorel Morariu and then-president of Federația Română de Rugby, decided, with the consultation of specialists, that an oak leaf would be the team emblem (as during the touris in the British Isles and Ireland, the Communist coat of arms painted on the Romanian players' shirts became unrecognisable due to the rain). The Latin word for oak, "robur", also meant "strength" in that same language. In 1980, a new badge, a shield with an oak leaf (which made the Romanian team be nicknamed "Stejarii", which means "the oaks") and the acronym "FRR" on the top. The adoption of said emblem could be also seen as an act of defiance towards the then-ruling regime in Romania, whose approval was given to the Romanian federations's requests to be affiliated to the IRFB. After the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the oak leaf was seen without the shield, usually accompanied by the inscription "Rugby Romania". 2003-2010 emblem 2003-2010 emblem Kit suppliers Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor 1919–1985 No supplier No shirt sponsor 1985–1988 Adidas 1988–1989 Bukta 1989–1993 Adidas Rank Xerox 1994–1996 Gilbert No shirt sponsor 1996–1997 Puma AG 1997–2001 Gilbert No shirt sponsor 2002 Petrom 2003–2008 O'Neills Orange 2009 No shirt sponsor 2010 CEC Bank 2011 KooGa 2012 Tall Ball 2012 Samurai Sportswear (worn in the 2012 end of the year internationals) 2013–2016 BLK 2016–2019 Mizuno 2020 Tall Ball 2021 Macron 2021 Stanleybet (worn in the 2021 mid-year internationals) 2021– No shirt sponsor 2023 Kaufland See also Rugby union in Romania Romanian Rugby Federation List of Romania national rugby union players Romania national rugby sevens team Romania women's national rugby sevens team Romania women's national rugby union team Romania national under-20 rugby union team Sport in Romania Further reading References External links Template:In lang