So how did Romania rise again? | Rugby World Cup 2023 Preview
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2023
- Kicked out of the 2019 World Cup before it even began, Romanian rugby found itself in a familiar yet frightening situation. This is the remarkable story of how one of rugby's forgotten powerhouses rose to be, came so close to glory, fell from grace, and is reinventing itself, ready to take on Ireland, South Africa and Scotland later this year...
If you've enjoyed any of the channel's content, you can also support Squidge Rugby on Patreon by visiting / squidgerugby , so I can fund a Romanian revolution of my own - Спорт
As someone of Romanian descent and a lifelong rugby fan, I just want to say a quick thanks for making such an awesome, informative video that is completely absent of any "digs" or cliche jokes. Seriously great video. Cheers!
As a supporter of both Wales and Canada who was born in the early 80s I remember how good Romania was then. After the troubled years of the 90s and early 2000s it good to see Romania on the way the up. I'm jealous 😉
@@garethrichmond4388 This is going to be an exciting world cup, that's for sure. I just hope Romania have jerseys that are as cool as 2015, those things were majestic...
Squidge can turn any rugby match into a biography series
I am a Springbok fan but watching this made me realize every team has a story and a hardship they had to overcome to get to where they are today. One thing stood out, how the powers that be have held back rugby development so much that many teams that had potential simply fell behind. Zimbabwe and Namibia function because of South Africa but what happened to Kenya's potential? Surely seeing how popular 7s is in Kenya why is WRU not bothered to make programs to grow the game there? How are so many teams still amateur when the game needs to grow? They can't just focus on America and Canada like the rest of the world do not love rugby!!! As for Romania, keep fighting and growing. God Bless.
they focused so much on Americas that US and Canada stay home :) you're right, the rest of the continents were neglected; we saw occasionaly Namibia and Kenya in Bucharest but we need more games not just 3 in summer and 3 in autumn for proper cross continental games
@@AndreiZamfirescuI work with Romanians and they told me how Romania got screwed by the powers it's sad seems they should have been in the six nations
World Rugby doesn't care about growing the sport in countries, if they did the RWC would be hosted in Ireland 2023. Where it's never been hosted and the sport is the 3rd popular sport in the country. Which would have boosted the grassroots and involvement. No they decided to host it in France again and other countries where its been hosted multiple times.... so yea they don't care about growing the sport, only care about how many bags they get...
Money. More people in the US and Canada have much deeper pockets than in Kenya or Namibia. The US is a powerhouse in any sport, not for their skill, but their support
As a romanian rugby player I have really enjoyed the things that you have said about us, like us being able to stand-up repeatedly and go over hard times and still rise up. Also other notable players that think would have deserved a mention would have been: Petru Vladimir Balan ( loosehead prop, double time french champion with the top 14 side Biarritz in 2005 and 2006) ,Marius Tincu ( hooker, won the top 14 in 2009 with Perpignian) and Ovidiu Tonita (back row, also top 14 winner in 2009 eith Perpignian).
Four Home Unions v Rest of Europe (playing under badge of Romanian Rugby Federation) in 1990 was the last match which I saw before becoming a parent and moving out of London made matches an unaffordable treat for many years! I seem to remember that the team could barely afford kit post-Ceaucescu, so that may have been a benefit match for Romania. Very happy that Romanian rugby seems to be thriving again.
Ok km
The first rugby game I ever attended was England-Romania at Twickenham in 2001. As a young Frenchie, I figured I had to support them since their flag looked so much like ours. Things didn't quite go to plan though as they ended up losing 134-0, so it's nice to see how much they've improved since then
Wow, I was not expecting to watch a deep dive into the history and culture of Romanian rugby. What a fascinating video, this is why I love this channel. Thanks squidge!
Romania toured NZ early as 1975. Argentina hadn't even toured then. They had a pretty good record winning 4 games and losing 3 with a draw with NZ juniors . They managed a win against formidable provincial sides teams like Waikato who had beaten touring sides like the Boks and the Lions, Wallabies and Wales. .Its sad to see how much potential they had as a rugby nation frittered away unnecessarily.
I rememeber that tour in 75 as a teenager I didn't even know Romania played Rugby. We were watching the highlights of the game and I asked my father who was also a Rugby player what he thought of the team. He simply pointed to the tv and said look at that passing that's good rugby. I am surprised anyone else remembered that tour.
As a Romanian rugby fan, this was a joy to watch! Congrats on the great research effort you put into it. You're right about the IRB failing smaller rugby nations, not just Romania, by overprotecting the big guns and thinking strictly in terms of money and power, instead of concentrating on growing the game globally. I would love to see a heavily modified qualifying systems that involves all the teams, just like in football, though I know it looks like a pipe dream. It would give smaller teams more chances to play the top dogs and hone their game.
Not to mention the concentration of resources in cricket! Ugh. (Sorry for the whataboutery...)
I remember getting up at 2am to "listen" to the live commentary of All Blacks vs Romania first official test. They never allowed camera coverage because they were behind the iron curtain and to this day have only seen snippets.
Good luck Romania from Wales 🏴👌
Squidge has this uncanny power of turning anyone into a fan of the most unlikely teams
I hope the Romanian players will receive the recognition they deserve in a close future ! Nice video as always, really enjoyed learning the history of rugby in Romania. Cheers from France
This is amazing, always love these more historically focused videos! Very impressed by the depth of research and your knowledge
Yes I have watched a few Romanian games and Cristi Chirica stood out to me as a player to watch. Thanks Squidge I enjoyed that... you have a new sub.
I remember the Romanian teams of the 70s and 80s and it's good to see that they're being recognised. A fairer world would have seen a six nations with them in it in the early 1980s
Got tickets to tonga vs romania in lille. As a german with neither tongan, nor romanian ancestry i will support romania, we need more decent rugby nations in europe!
What a game that's going to be! Watching Romania play South Africa. Clearly cheering for the oaks now
More evidence that this is the best rugby content on the platform. Thanks for your enthusiasm, scholarship and humour
This is a great Time for latin rugby with 7 teams getting through to the WC (not even counting Spain). I believe this might be the first time latin countries outnumber the saxon ones in this competition.
and here how a stranger come and told our story in such a beautiful way. Thank you sir
these videos giving me a new favourite underdog team every time they appear
That as a hell of a good review -awesome research!
Great bio... ill be watching a few romanian games this year for sure now.
Always top shelf from squidge
I'm moving to Romania and can't wait to get involved in the Rugby there.
@@balrajtakhar3622 I and a teacher so will certainly try to grow it in the school. If my old legs can still get me round a pitch, I'll probably just play but could help out with youth once I learn more Romanian.
@@balrajtakhar3622 I use to be absolutely rapid though. Hopefully still have enough to play 15. After all, I'm probably still quicker than Freddie Stewart. 😂 If not, I'll get on the Romanian cuisine and play flank.
Amazing video! I learned so much about my native country's rugby history. Thank you ❤
Love this style of video you do on the less well thought of teams, I loved the one you did on italy too. They are so inspirational. Got me totally hyped for the world cup!
I really hope you are making a GOOD living at this. The analysis, the history, the research is way beyond what any proffesional pundit or tv channel has ever had to offer.
I would love and hate for you to be on one of the big channels.
Can we get a video on whether Scotland will make it out of the group of death?
great analys, thank you, i would like to see film abut zimbabwean rugby history also
I have tears in my eyes watching this. Thank you so much ❤
Thanks for the history lesson. I needed that.
Only squidge would decide it's necessary to look into a 20 year old financial scandal at a domestic team to preview a country's world cup chances. Keep doing what you do
Thank you Squidge for this Romanian rugby history lesson.
Good to see how Romania is doing from then until now, hopefully they sort out the defensive issues to at least be competitive against these three teams 🇮🇪 🏴🇿🇦
from an Irish guy honestly the only worry i would have about facing Romania is suffering injuries that's really the only danger they pose to us
Thank you for this video, Hope Romania does very well at RWC
LOL being honest their only hope of winning a game is against Tonga right at the end and even then that's a big if
Keith Quinn commentating the final clip there of Stefan Constantin (hope I got his name correct) at the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Great commentator, knew infinite minutiae about players🙂.
Really interesting, loved the history of Romanian rugby.
Great day when Squidge uploads
I so love your video essays & always come away having learned more about the sport I adore - thank you!
Keeping my fingers crossed for a great performance by the Romanian Squad 😊
I genuinely squealed with delight when I saw this upload haha
What a range of kits in that video. The yellow one with the waist patterning is gorgeous, but the stripy one is absolutely rancid.
Come on squidge, do a Munster one!!
Or a South African club team for heaven sakes
Munster playing in the world cup now?
@@StevieC89 Munster the last team to hold the All Blacks to a Shutout
In the 80s there were even talks of Romania being admited to play in the 5 nation tournament
Were waiting for your Springbok video. Come come come.
Haven’t watched the last two squidge videos cause there was bad crushed dreams vibes, so delighted to see this
saw that Sqidgy posted at work, had to take my break immediately!
Thanks a lot. Great video
Well that was simply wonderful. Thanks.
I asked for this video like 3 years ago and the man delivered.
Very interesting deep dive into Romania. I’d love to see more competitive European teams
Multumesc, Squidge!
The game is maturing into something really cool. It's evident that a time is coming when a with a well implemented game plan, with proper study of the opposition and what works best for your individual players and as a team can result in a win no mater who is playing. Given that your players have the physical and mental ability to execute the plan for 80 minutes of course. It's going to be an era where rugby smarts and tactics really come into play.
Absolutely love these videos, Can't remember if there is an australia one up yet, but looking forward to that so I can send it to my brother out there :D.
These videos are also just making me so gaddamn excited for what should be a good world cup :D (Still hoping Ireland can make it to the final and win :D )
Awesome!!
"Packed in like fish-fingers into Tadhg Furlong" Nice one!
Really enjoyed this!
this was wonderful. i cannot wait for the others!
More countdown to world cup videos!!🎉
thank you Squidge Rugby !
Can’t wait to see what they do in rugby World Cup. Pool B. Tonga vs Romania will be epic.
Tonga is going to walk Romania
@@bradleypenrith we’ll be lucky to still have a full team intact by the time we play Romania. In rugby World Cup. Brutal schedule. For both of us.
@@epatongan yea but as you said by the time you play against each other
you have both been smacked around by Ireland South Africa and Scotland the game might not be the best quality as you said both sides could have several injuries maybe even suspensions by then
@@kurtpunchesthings2411 LOL confident Irish till the quarterfinals. When Ireland face Tonga sipi Tau. Y’all should counter it with a River dance. Always after me bloody lucky charms
@@epatongan pffft ahahahah funny not
"Grand slam Scotland"? Thank you for saying it, and then saying it again.
Squidge the le(d)gend! Love your videos and I can't wait for your Bokke video
new squidge upload yay
Heads up for pronunciation advice Squidge! Vlaicu is pronounced Vl-eye-coo and Baia Mare is Buy-a Mahr-ay. Keep up the great work!
what a video! It really looks like history repeating itself with the world rugby new competition they are putting forward, shutting down entry to competitive sides like Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania...
The only way to grow the game is to invest in competitive sides, not in competitive markets. Markets will follow and will be a result of more competitive sides. Georgia, portugal, romania, uruguay deserve equal treatment to countries like USA.
cannot wait for the wc
Great video, pity they stalled more or less. Would be good if the got back to their top days, though. The group of good tier 2 countries is growing. At U18 and U20 level, Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands are quite a bit better. These are the countries to watch in the REC in the future, next to Georgia off course.
amazing how there is only one video the webb ellis cup
Welcome back, Romania. Kick butt.
Foarte bine 🇹🇩!
Cool video! You pictured the wrong Dave Ellis though. That's the Kiwi skills coach, not the former France defence coach.
Great series though
What about the underdogs, Os Lobos it would be nice to see a video on how they've accomplished their second ever spot in the RWC and to see what they might bring to the world of rugby...
He’s going to release a video on every team in the World Cup at some point
It’s coming and we’re extremely hyped
still waiting on the fabled Spain vs Portugal video we were promised lol - that said I'm ok with this cos now he gets to talk bout the last four mins of Portugal vs USA too
Andy Robinson was just announced as Bath 'contact coach' today
Great video- not sure about the "oaks" tree like jerseys though
Concerned for the potentially crippled Irish team that MIGHT make it out of pool B.
Why am I not surprised that the IRB played a part in the decline of Romanian rugby? God....i despise the IRB. Rugby must be hands down the most mismanaged major team sport in the world.
It is. But biggest part of the decline comes from the end of the communist era. Rugby was state funded by a large extent. All the money dried up after Ceausescu's death.
@@TheDonCursino I'm sure there were other factors ...and even larger ones (certainly all the funding drying up would have been a big factor). I'm just pointing out that the IRB certainly didn't help, and only made things worse .....as they always do.
@@Sabundy Who says that was IRB's own decision and not mainstream politicians telling them to not admit or pay attention to a country that was communist at the time? I find that more likely.
Hit the notification quicker than Hassell-Collins got dropped from the England squad
Do a video about Portugal rising up the ranks in rugby please
I was privileged to have seen Romania in person in 2015, they lost to Italy in the first half but won the second half. So close.
I saw them play the Boks at Newlands in '95. The crowd started supporting the Romanians, because they just seemed so much more like they wanted to win. In interviews by Boks players in that game, I understand that they really struggled against Romania because of the "lack of structure", or maybe that they just didn't play the same kind of rugby.
Waiting chile
Oh for what could have been, Comescu has/had so much to answer for. Never the less from small acorns do giant Oaks grow.
Gwan munster!
One thing you missed, romania was supposed to join the 6 nations tournament or the 5 nations as it was in the 90s
10:24 ❤
I dont know what is coming up for Romania, but history is repeating itself, they have been ignored by conservative 6 nations and WR, and that is why Romanian rugby experienced degradation. The same thing is happening with Georgia now, even though Georgia has made much more serious investment in local rugby, building rugby bases and stadiums for almost every big Clubs in Georgia, in total, 14 huge rugby stadiums, and Georgian rugby is also doing well, but WR is still ignoring Lelos.
So, I am afraid history will repeat itself and without serious competition, Georgia will degrade after while. And look at this new tournament that is coming up, WR totally ignoring every tr2 nations and giving everything to these 12/14 teams that in world rankings are under Georgia, and no prospect for going up. WR has still didn't learn lesson, WR is governed by stupid old mentality dudes that think only about themselves, not about growing rugby globaly. But WR is happy to add rich countries, OOO yes, money,money, money..
I was thinking the same thing sadly. The same may well happen to Georgia
@@olglez9230 It will happen unfortunately. This is simple mathematics, you can not sustane and grow talent if you dont have high quality games both on club and national team level. And as I said, future doesn't look good for nether for Georgia nor other growing nations like Portugal, Spain, Netherland and so on.. WR is kinda innovating, creating new tournaments, but not for tr2 countries, only for few selected.
Rugby will never ever become truly global sport, how can it when doors are close and WR is doing absolutely nothing.
I wish Agustín Pichot had won elections few years back, things would have been different.. Even elections are sooo unfair in WR.
Well, in short, rugby is sport just for few, not for everyone..
Sadly....you are correct. I'm South African....and imho rugby is easily the most mismanaged major team sport in the world. The IRB is so amazingly short sighted it's not even funny. Aside from the FACT that they don't reward and help countries like Romania and Georgia who have a rugby culture and love of the game (and who have put in a lot of effort to develop the game) by giving any access to better quality competition. The IRB is also obsessed with trying to enter America.....an utterly saturated market where there is already a well established contact sport and there just isn't much of a rugby culture. They do the same thing by ignoring huge virgin markets like China and India (the Asian market in general) where no contact sport is established at all, and the potential for growth is HUGE. They seem to prefer to fight for scraps in the American market. The IRB is just hopeless....
@@Sabundyanother factor us that game would have more viewers with more competitive countries playing.
How many Bok fans appreciate that these guys call themselves the Okes?😁
Can we get some more Fiji content😊
Another saffa.... Man I just love seeing underdog teams rise higher and higher. My fav is japan but I really Wana see rugby gain field in the US, asia and the majority of the EU who haven't really given it a chance.
Edit: I think holding the WC in countries like japan and the US in 2031 is amazinggg for the sport
🎉
How can they rise again? End corruption, organise nationwide scouting for players, actually pay decent wages, change the coach and get more exposure to international games
Where can I buy that jersey?
God bless our boys 🫡
Can you do one on Manu Samoa? And other pacific nations ?
Since he's previewing all 20 teams, it will come in due course
Fish fingers into tadhg furlong 😂😂😂
Can you do a new video about Canadian rugby
I rly wish the 6 nations included more teams. Obviously some teams will be dominated, but it will give more teams the minutes they need to properly improve.
Like how is rugby supposed to grow when so many teams aren't even able to practice as a team together?
Or even another rugby nations tournament?
Hope they can get back to their former glories
Still for a second world cup in a row even if they are worst than spain they got their spot in the office and not in the field so not expecting anything from the top 3/4 in tier 2
After this World cup Romania are back down to Earth they have been obliterated against the big three.
Im Romanian and I can't say we were surprised. Honestly for us it was just nice to be there at that point. I still think our team needs serious restructuring and the IRU until smaller nations like ours can ever even stand a chance.
100/100
When Ireland played Romania in 2015 in Wembley Stadium there was 90,000 people attending, the largest amount at a Rugby Match ever.
Watch the video. 5th largest.
@@dougerrohmer watch again, it's RWC record to date. I was there
@@AndreiZamfirescu Sorry, world record at the time, now the 5th largest.
Spain deserved more imo. They qualified fairly in terms of sport. The player they got kicked out for only played a few minutes against the neatherlands, and spain beat them by quite a bit. Also, the spanish federation where cheated by the players club
Not only Spain deserved more, Spain was qualified, from a game point of view.
I'm genuinely happy for Romania. But this disqualification from Spain was such a waste. So sad for the players and Spanish supporters.
True, their own federation did them dirty on that "one player" they did really need.
if it makes you feel better it won't be Spain getting the Absolute shite kicked out of them in the pool stage
Do a vídeo about Portugal
Need more South American content/coverage! Americas rugby is on the rise. Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay. Pay attention ppl