Romania overturned a 15-point deficit to bag their first win at Rugby World Cup 2015 via a 17-15 victory over Pool D rivals Canada in Leicester on Tuesday.
Having trailed 15-0 early in the second half, Romania launched an impressive comeback, with the power of their forwards turning the tables on a Canadian side that had controlled the game for the first 50 minutes.
Tries from Canadian wingers DTH van der Merwe and Jeff Hassler just before and shortly after half time looked to have had secured the result in a game played in difficult conditions.
But Romanian skipper Mihai Macovei scored twice in the last half-hour before Florin Vlaicu slotted a late, long-range penalty to snatch a thrilling win for the Oaks.
More to follow…
The scorers:
For Canada:
Tries: Van der Merwe, Hassler
Con: Hirayama
Pen: McRorie
Yellow card: Sinclair
For Romania:
Tries: Macovei 2
Cons: Vlaicu 2
Pen: Vlaicu
Yellow card: Fercu
Canada: 15 Harry Jones, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 John Moonlight, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Jamie Cudmore (c), 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Kyle Gilmour, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Conor Trainor, 23 James Pritchard
Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Ionut Botezatu, 10 Michael Wiringi, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Mihai Macovei (c), 7 Viorel Lucaci, 6 Valentin Ursache, 5 Johannes van Heerden, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Lazar.
Replacements: 16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Andrei Ursache, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Daniel Carpo, 20 Stelian Burcea, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Adrian Apostol, 23 Csaba Gal.
Venue: Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
