Romania 37 Namibia 7

Romania managed to avoid the Wooden Spoon in Pool A of the Rugby World Cup, the Oaks beating Namibia 37-7 in the first-ever rugby international in Launceston, Tasmania.

Namibia were still reeling from the 142-0 hammering dealt to them by the Australians five days ago and the Romanians immediately had the Africans under pressure when they stole possession at the kick-off.  The Namibians were let off any major damage, however, when they were awarded a penalty, which was cleared into touch.

The Oaks did not fail in their next attempt though when they swept over the frail defensive line of Namibia, stretching them out wide for lock Augustin Petrichei to go over in the corner.  Petrichei was lucky the try was awarded, however, after a television replay showed that the ball was not grounded.  Fly-half Ionut Tofan stretched the lead for the Oaks with the conversion.

The hapless Africans were dismal in all aspects of the game, but it was their defence that really let them down, with the Romanians punching gaps in their line at will and the score could have been far worse if the Oaks had made the passes stick.

Namibia's evening got worse when the Romanians turned over the ball deep inside their opponent's 22 and stormed towards the tryline.  Scrum-half Lucian Sirbu went over for the try, but was held up thanks to a brilliant tackle by Namibia's star flanker Schalk van der Merwe.

Van der Merwe, a lion-tamer by trade, was arguably the only Namibian to raise his hand during the game as he roamed the field tirelessly on defence and was one of the few forces in attack to bother the Oaks, with that tackle on Sirbu just one of many heroic acts from him on the night.

The Oaks' scrum-half would not be denied, however, and when Romania was awarded a penalty close to the line, he tapped quickly and scampered in for the try.

Ten minutes later, on the stroke of half-time, the Romanians went over for another five-pointer as the Namibian defence again failed to cope under the tireless attack.  This time it was left to the forwards to drive towards the line, sending the final pass out to flanker George Chiriac for the try.

Tofan converted to stretch the lead to 32-0 at the break.

The second half was a comedy of errors with the Romanians throwing loose passes as frequently as the Namibians missed tackles -- resulting in possibly the scrappiest display of rugby seen at the tournament to date.  And, to make matters worse, the pitch was littered with injured players as they ran from one side of the field to the other -- the Namibians eventually forced into ringing the changes.

The struggling Africans finally managed to penetrate the Romanian defence late in the half when fly-half Morné Schreuder put the ball into the corner -- from a penalty -- for a line-out.  The forwards drove towards the line and big lock Eben Isaacs then crashed over.  Emile Wessels slotted the conversion, but it was never going to change their fate with the game effectively having ended as a contest before the break.

Christian Sauan brought about the final whistle when he went over for the Oaks' fifth try after the ball was spread out wide and the Namibian defenders, as they had all night, struggled to keep up with the play.

Man of the match:  Namibian flanker Schalk van der Merwe definitely put his hand up and the centre pairing of Romeo Gontineac and Valentin Maftei were superb for Romania.  But Lucian Sirbu's efforts at scrum-half proved to be decisive and he kept his side on the front foot all day earning him our Man of the match award.

Moment of the match:  Namibia's Schalk van der Merwe, above anybody else, deserved a try for his efforts, but his try-saving tackle on Romania scrum-half Lucian Sirbu was testimony to his all-round efforts on the day.

Villian of the match:  It was a clean game, with no animosity and no "silly stuff".  Nobody really deserves this award, although the entire Namibian side tried to win this award with their bumbling first-half display.

The Teams

Romania:  1 Petru Balan, 2 Razvan Mavrodin, 3 Marcel Socaciu, 4 Cristian Petre, 5 Augustin Petrechei, 6 George Chiriac, 7 Ovidiu Tonita, 8 Sorin Socol, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 10 Ionut Tofan, 11 Gabriel Brezoianu, 12 Romeo Gontineac (c), 13 Valentin Maftei, 14 Ioan Teodorescu, 15 Dan Dumbrava
Reserves:  Silviu Florea, Iulian Andrei, Cezar Popescu, Cristian Sauan, Petrisor Toderasc, Marian Tudori, Mihai Vioreanu

Namibia:  1 Neil Du Toit, 2 J.M. Meyer, 3 Kees Lensing, 4 Eben Isaacs, 5 Heino Senekal, 6 Schalk Van Der Merwe, 7 Wolfie Duvenhage, 8 Sean Furter (c), 9 Niel Swanepoel, 10 Mot Schreuder, 11 Deon Mouton, 12 Du Preez Grobler, 13 Emile Wessels, 14 Vincent Dreyer, 15 Ronaldo Pedro
Reserves:  Andries Blaauw, Deon Grunschloss, Corne Powell, Rudie Janse Van Vuuren, Cor Van Tonder, Jurgens Van Lill
Unused:  Herman Lintvelt

Attendance:  15457
Referee:  0arshall p.

Points Scorers

Romania
Tries:  Teodorescu I. 1, Sirbu L.M. 1, Petrechei A. 1, Chiriac G. 1, Sauan D.C. 1
Conv:  Tofan I.R. 3
Pen K.:  Tofan I.R. 2

Namibia
Tries:  Isaacs E. 1Conv:  Wessels E. 1