Romanian Rugby

[dragos03]

Superliga final, Baia Mare vs Saracens Timisoara, live right now:
http://www.rugbytv.ro/2015/12/05/ti...-baia-mare-in-finala-superligii-cec-bank.html

The first half has just finished 10-10.

 

[dragos03]

Superliga final
Timisoara Saracens - Baia Mare 18-15
Tries: Stephen Shennan, Tangimana Fonovai / Marius Danila, Alexandru Bucur
Highlights: [video]https://www.facebook.com/rugbyromania/videos/10153794609683270/[/video]

It was a dramatic match that any team could have won. Timisoara suffered due to indiscipline (they got no less than 4 yellow cards) but managed to resist in a tense ending. Timisoara Saracens have won all 3 domestic trophies this season (Superliga, Romanian Cup and the King's Cup) and will continue to play in the Challenge Cup qualifiers until the January.

 

[Croket66]

Surprising to see all these romanians joining Italy (Vlaicu, Badalicescu, Sirbe, Tamba) but that's nice. I think the level of the italian championship is comparable to the best teams of Federale1

Congratulations to Timisoara BTW! I hope they will qualify for the next Challenge Cup

 

[dragos03]

Indeed, but all these players had to find new clubs on a very short notice, I don't think they had much choice. They could all play at a higher level but Romanian players seem to be very under-rated in Europe for some reason. Badalicescu for example absolutely destroyed his opponents in the match in June against Argentina Jaguars yet he ended up at the bottom Eccelenza club while some of the Jaguars props in that match have signed for Top 14 clubs.

 

[tommyc121]

congrats to timisoara. they were better side on the day i thought. just quick one heard rumors of coach csm is going to court to battle with the head of csm who apprentley owes him 9 month salary that is wow personally will that affect csm and the other sports as well? why just rugby side is what i am trying to say.

 

[dragos03]

The head of CSM (a multi-sports club) wants to close the rugby section because the coach and the players did not accept his abuse in the past and informed the press about the situation at the club. I hope he will be sued and dismissed and hopefully the rugby club will go on, even with a reduced budget. Not only the coach is in this situation, the players haven't been paid either.

Final Superliga 2015 standings
1. Timisoara Saracens
2. Baia Mare
3. CSM Bucuresti
4. Steaua
5. U Cluj
6. Dinamo

Most tried scored: Timisoara Saracens (46)
Most tries conceded: U Cluj (56)

Best try scorers:
1. Tangimana Fonovai (Timisoara) - 8
2. Siaosi Kata (Dinamo) - 7
3. Stelian Burcea and Stephen Shennan (both Timisoara) - 6

Best point scorers:
1. Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara) - 121
2. Luke Samoa (Baia Mare) - 113
3. Florin Vlaicu (CSM Bucuresti) - 98

Best kicking percentage:
1. Tudorel Bratu (Dinamo) - 80%
2. Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara) and Ovidiu Melniciuc (U Cluj) - 73%
3. Florin Vlaicu (CSM Bucuresti) - 71%

Most man of the match awards: Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara Saracens), Marius Danila (Baia Mare) and Samoa Luke (Baia Mare) - 3 awards each

Worst Discipline - Timisoara Saracens (24 yellow cards) and Tangimana Fonovai (Timisoara - 6 yellow cards)
Best discipline - Dinamo (6 yellow cards)

 

[tommyc121]

sounds really bad. no wonders most have left i hope they can solve issues but seems its going to be long long battle ahead. good luck to them

 

[amz]

The head of CSM (a multi-sports club) wants to close the rugby section because the coach and the players did not accept his abuse in the past and informed the press about the situation at the club.

That lamer is anyway interim, after his resignation, he's in charge just until a new executive will be appointed, I doubt he can decide over such an important matter.

 

[dragos03]

They will all eventually win in court and get their restant wages but it might take years of trials. The jerk CSM president knows it very well, he is just trying to delay it as long as he can to punish the rugby team for opposing him. I'm afraid he might stay as interim president for some time because the mayor of Bucharest is an interim himself. Only after the elections for the city hall we can hope for some real change at the club.

 

[dragos03]

Sadly, the match between Timisoara Saracens and Rovigo on Saturday will not be broadcasted or streamed at all. The reason is that the holder of the EPCR rights in Romania (Digi Sport) already had a full schedule for the weekend. Too bad, I think this match is perhaps the most interesting of the Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition. Digi Sport will broadcast the next match, Timisoara vs Fiamme Oro. Both matches will be played on Dan Paltinisanu, the biggest stadium in the city.

Timisoara's squad wasn't annouced yet but some important absents are known. Fullback Gabriel Conache will be missing for several months after being injured in the Superliga final. Timisoara doesn't have another specialist fullback in the squad so this is a major blow for the team, it seems that he will be replaced by winger Stephen Shennan. Lock Marian Drenceanu is also uncertain, while Fijian prop Manasa Saulo is still suspended.

In other news, Poli Iasi has signed experienced lock Cosmin Ratiu (CSM Bucuresti) as player/coach, hopefully this is a sign that the club considers Superliga promotion.
Edit: indeed Poli Iasi wants to play in the Superliga, they will try to sign additional players. Some investment in their stadium will be needed as well.

 

[tommyc121]

sounds good for iasi. what about the others will they want to go into super liga? and is there any news on other csm players leaving espically the number.

 

[dragos03]

sounds good for iasi. what about the others will they want to go into super liga? and is there any news on other csm players leaving espically the number.

There is little news from the other teams. Stiinta Petrosani have only half of the budget needed to play in the Superliga but tomorrow there will be a meeting with the local authorities and some businessmen to try and find the rest of the funds. At Navodari, the budget of the club was slightly increased, that could be a good sign. No news from Galati.

I think most of the players at CSM will leave (one of them is Tiberiu Conache, with offers from several clubs). It is rumored that the club will use their U23 squad that won all their matches in the second division this season to play in the Superliga next year. Some of the players still left at CSM could be a great addition for some of the clubs considering promotion (for example, Onal Agiacai could be a good signing at Navodari), I expect Ratiu to bring a few at Iasi.

 

[tommyc121]

florin surgiu where is he going what i meant as well. sorry if spelling is wrong.

 

[dragos03]

I don't know. I don't think he is going anywhere at the moment since he is still recovering from his RWC injury. Anyway, due to the reform of the domestic competitions, the next edition of the Superliga will only start in September 2016. Until then, only the less important Romanian Cup and King's Cup will be played. This gives clubs and players plenty of time to consider their options.

Tomorrow from 13.30 local time, Timisoara Saracens will play against Rovigo, these are probably the two best clubs in the Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition. We'll see if Timisoara managed to stay focused after winning the Superliga and if their lack of experience in European competitions will be an important handicap.

 

[dragos03]

Timisoara Saracens - Rovigo 38-6 at half time, with 5 tries scored.

I expected them to win, but not a complete rout like this since Rovigo is one of the better Italian clubs.

 

[dragos03]

Final score Timisoara Saracens - Rovigo 45-13

To put this into some perspective, it's the biggest home win for Timisoara this season. Their biggest win in the Superliga was 45-16 against U Cluj.

 

[Croket66]

Big win for Timisoara. I hope they will face Calvisano and not Enisei if they finish at the top of their pool.

 

[Vladimir12]

Big win for Timisoara. I hope they will face Calvisano and not Enisei if they finish at the top of their pool.

In the play-offs next spring will play "Krasny Yar".

He became the champion of Russia in 2015.

 

[dragos03]

I think the probable playoffs will be Timisoara vs Calvisano and Krasny Yar vs Fiamme Oro. There's a good chance that none of the Italian clubs will progress. I wonder if they'll try to change opponents to have the two Italian teams play against each other and make sure that at least one of them makes it.

I don't understand why these Italian clubs even want to play in European competitions to be honest, they just get trashed by Tier 1 clubs, constantly beaten by Tier 2 clubs (Romanian, Russian) and sometimes they lose to Tier 3 clubs as well (Spain, Germany). They have been having the same results for years, without any progress. Here are the results of Italian clubs this weekend:
Treviso vs Stade Francais 17-50
Calvisano vs Harlequins 10-50
La Rochelle vs Zebre 27-19
Timisoara vs Rovigo 45-13
Mogliano vs Heidelberg 26-32
Fiamme Oro vs Direito 17-10

That's 5 defeats (3 of them trashings) and only one last-minute win against amateurs from Portugal. The two closer losses were against German amateurs and a small French club that probably used its reserves.

 

[dragos03]

It seems that another 2nd division club, CS Navodari, wants to promote and play in the Superliga next season. They claim to have the required budget and are in talks with players from Dinamo, Steaua and CSM Bucharest in order to strengthen their squad, as well as some Romanian players currently at foreign clubs. It appears they will be allowed to use the main stadium in the city.

The city of Iasi has included the construction of a modern dedicated rugby stadium in their list of prioritary investments that was send to the Romanian government.