 | |||
| Nickname | Stejarii (The Oaks) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Oak Leaf | ||
| Union | Federația Română de Rugby | ||
| Head coach | David Gérard | ||
| Captain | Marius Simionescu | ||
| Mostcaps | Florin Vlaicu (129) | ||
| Top scorer | Florin Vlaicu (1030) | ||
| Top try scorer | Cătălin Fercu (33) | ||
| Home stadium | Stadionul Arcul de Triumf | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 21 (as of 7 July 2025) | ||
| Highest | 13 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) | ||
| Lowest | 21 (2025) | ||
| First international | |||
 United States 21–0Romania  (Paris, France; 26 June 1919) All military sides | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Bulgaria 0–100Romania  (Burgas, Bulgaria; 21 September 1976) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 England 134–0Romania (London, England; 17 November 2001) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 9 (first in1987) | ||
| Best result | Pool stage (1987,1991,1995,1999,2003,2007,2011,2015,2023) | ||
Medal record | |||
| Website | rugbyromania.ro | ||
TheRomania national rugby union team,[1] nicknamedStejarii (The Oaks), has long been considered one of the stronger European teams outside theSix Nations. They have participated in all but oneRugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of theRugby Europe International Championships, which they won in2017.Rugby union in Romania is administered by theRomanian 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.[2] 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 otherSix Nations Championship teams.[3]
Romania played in everyRugby World Cup through to2015, but were disqualified from the2019 tournament after fielding an ineligible player during the qualification process.[4] Romania returned to the2023 Rugby World Cup and finished bottom of Pool B, losing all of their matches.
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 the1924 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. TheFederaţia 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.
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A generation of French school trained coaches[citation needed] 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 inBucharest, in a tour match won by 11–5. In 1974 Romania won against France 15–10 in Bucharest,[5] and the FIRA – Association of European Rugby championship.[6] In 1975 Romania went for an 8-game tour to New Zealand, concluding in Wellington with a 10–10 draw against theJunior 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 their1979 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 the1980 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 their1981 tour, Scotland winning the international by 12 points to 6.[7] 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 beatWales (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 theAll 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.
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 andSteaua Bucharest, represented the police and the army respectively, so their state funding fell.[citation needed]
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 the1995 World Cup, Romania held the eventual winnersSouth 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 inFrance andItaly. 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.
In 2000, Romania won the firstEuropean Nations Cup by a large margin, recording victories in all four matches. By 2001, Romania had been caught by the likes ofGeorgia who defeated them to take the 2001European Nations Cup, crowned with a decisive 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest. The national side lost toEngland by 134–0 in 2001 and Dinamo Bucharest lost 151–0 toSaracens in theEuropean 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.[citation needed]
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 inLisbon 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 inConstanţa), but went down 24–33 to Russia inKrasnodar following allegations of players having been doped. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19–18 win over Russia inLisbon. In 2004, the Romanians scored a narrow 25–24 victory overItaly, their first victory to date over aSix Nations Championship side.
In 2005 Romania was given 'second tier' status by theIRB and replaced Russia in theSuper 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 aqualifying group for the2007 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.[8] In the2007 Rugby World Cup finals, Romania won a bonus point in the 18–24 loss toItaly and to win a second game withPortugal by a narrow margin (14–10), but suffered heavy losses toScotland (42–0) andNew Zealand (85–8).
On 21 March 2009, Romania lost 22–21 at home toPortugal, 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 atRussia, 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 defeatedUkraine over two legs (94–10 on aggregate) for the European place in theFinal 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.[9]
In 2018, Romania finished top of the Rugby Europe Championship, meaning they qualified for the2019 Rugby World Cup to be played inJapan in 2019. But after the conclusion of the tournamentWorld Rugby conducted a review of player eligibility and found Romania fieldedSione Faka'osilea, who previously played for theTonga 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, withRussia taking their place.[10]
On 29 May 2018, it was confirmed that Romania had appealed the decision.[11] On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld, meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilstGermany advanced to round 6.[12]
Romania holds the record for the longest unbeaten run: 25 matches in between May 1959 and November 1964.[2]
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 defeatFrance.
| 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 | |
| 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 |
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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.
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.
| Rugby World Cuprecord | Qualification | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Squad | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | ||
  1987 | Pool stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 61 | 130 | Squad | Invited | ||||||||
   1991 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 64 | Squad | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 42 | |||
 1995 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 97 | Squad | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 105 | 45 | |||
| 1999 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 126 | Squad | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 300 | 127 | |||
| 2003 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 192 | Squad | 2nd | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 31 | |||
| 2007 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 161 | Squad | 1st | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 452 | 122 | |||
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 44 | 169 | Squad | P/O | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 492 | 192 | |||
| 2015 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 129 | Squad | 2nd | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 242 | 106 | |||
 2019 | Expelled from competing at tournament after qualification | 3rd | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 296 | 126 | |||||||||
| 2023 | Pool stage | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 287 | Squad | 2nd | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 289 | 232 | ||
| 2027 | Qualified | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 58 | |||||||||
 2031 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
| Total | — | 32 | 6 | 0 | 26 | 397 | 1355 | — | — | 73 | 52 | 3 | 18 | 2430 | 1081 | ||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Change[i] | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | South Africa | 93.06 |
| 2 | | New Zealand | 90.33 |
| 3 |  1 | England | 89.09 |
| 4 |  1 | Ireland | 88.85 |
| 5 | | France | 87.07 |
| 6 | |  Argentina | 85.30 |
| 7 | | Australia | 81.69 |
| 8 | 1 |  Fiji | 81.03 |
| 9 | 1 | Scotland | 80.22 |
| 10 | | Italy | 78.98 |
| 11 | | Georgia | 74.69 |
| 12 | | Wales | 74.23 |
| 13 | | Japan | 72.58 |
| 14 | | Spain | 69.12 |
| 15 | |  Uruguay | 68.52 |
| 16 | | United States | 68.26 |
| 17 | |  Samoa | 66.94 |
| 18 | |  Chile | 66.72 |
| 19 | |  Tonga | 66.66 |
| 20 | | Portugal | 64.89 |
| 21 | | Romania | 62.16 |
| 22 | | Belgium | 61.81 |
| 23 | |  Hong Kong | 59.61 |
| 24 | |  Canada | 58.85 |
| 25 | |  Zimbabwe | 58.80 |
| 26 | | Netherlands | 57.01 |
| 27 | |  Namibia | 56.39 |
| 28 | |  Switzerland | 55.26 |
| 29 | | Poland | 54.36 |
| 30 | 1 | Czech Republic | 53.39 |
| Romania's historical rankings |
Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Romania national XV at test level up until22 November 2025, updated after match with Uruguay.[18]
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % | For | Aga | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0.00% | 114 | 341 | −227 |
| Argentina XV | 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 |
| France 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 |
| Emerging Ireland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 10 | 31 | −21 |
| Italy | 44 | 16 | 25 | 3 | 36.36% | 654 | 711 | −57 |
| Italy 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 |
| Junior All Blacks | 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 |
| Scotland A | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 18 | 21 | −3 |
| South Africa | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 8 | 97 | −89 |
| 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 |
On 29 October, Romania named a 37-player squad ahead of theirNovember international againstCanada,USA, andUruguay.[19]
Head Coach:David Gérard
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ștefan Buruiană | Hooker | (2003-03-03)3 March 2003 (age 22) | 12 | Castres Olympique |
| Tudor Butnariu | Hooker | (1995-03-12)12 March 1995 (age 30) | 22 | Timișoara |
| Ovidiu Cojocaru | Hooker | (1996-11-19)19 November 1996 (age 29) | 39 | Baia Mare |
| Robert Irimescu | Hooker | (1996-03-01)1 March 1996 (age 29) | 12 | West Harbour |
| Vasile Balan | Prop | (1992-02-07)7 February 1992 (age 33) | 27 | Steaua București |
| Thomas Crețu | Prop | (2002-03-05)5 March 2002 (age 23) | 11 | Dax |
| Gheorghe Gajion | Prop | (1992-11-13)13 November 1992 (age 33) | 19 | Stade Montois |
| Iulian Harțig | Prop | (1998-10-11)11 October 1998 (age 27) | 28 | Dinamo București |
| Cosmin Manole | Prop | (1995-10-22)22 October 1995 (age 30) | 11 | Dinamo București |
| Alexandru Savin | Prop | (1995-02-12)12 February 1995 (age 30) | 46 | Rapid |
| Joji Sikote | Prop | (1995-08-14)14 August 1995 (age 30) | 1 | Timișoara |
| Marius Antonescu | Lock | (1992-08-09)9 August 1992 (age 33) | 51 | Narbonne |
| Ionuț Donici | Lock | (2000-08-31)31 August 2000 (age 25) | 0 | Steaua București |
| Nicolaas Immelman | Lock | (1993-06-18)18 June 1993 (age 32) | 12 | Baia Mare |
| Andrei Mahu | Lock | (1991-09-03)3 September 1991 (age 34) | 17 | Massy |
| David Trăușan | Lock | (2002-03-07)7 March 2002 (age 23) | 0 | Timișoara |
| Matthew Tweddle | Lock | (1992-06-01)1 June 1992 (age 33) | 7 | Steaua București |
| Kemal Altinok | Back row | (2001-10-19)19 October 2001 (age 24) | 5 | Timișoara |
| Cristi Boboc | Back row | (1995-10-09)9 October 1995 (age 30) | 22 | Steaua București |
| Cristi Chirică | Back row | (1997-04-09)9 April 1997 (age 28) | 22 | Dinamo București |
| Adrian Mitu | Back row | (2004-05-12)12 May 2004 (age 21) | 11 | Soyaux Angoulême |
| Vlad Neculau | Back row | (1998-01-07)7 January 1998 (age 27) | 27 | Timișoara |
| Dragoș Ser | Back row | (1999-03-04)4 March 1999 (age 26) | 24 | Timișoara |
| Alin Conache | Scrum-half | (2002-05-07)7 May 2002 (age 23) | 27 | Steaua București |
| Gabriel Rupanu | Scrum-half | (1997-09-28)28 September 1997 (age 28) | 40 | Timișoara |
| Toma Mîrzac | Scrum-half | 1 | Baia Mare | |
| Dănuț Jipa | Fly-half | (2000-04-09)9 April 2000 (age 25) | 0 | Rapid |
| Hinckley Vaovasa | Fly-half | (1998-09-24)24 September 1998 (age 27) | 33 | Dinamo București |
| Alexandru Bucur | Centre | (1994-04-24)24 April 1994 (age 31) | 19 | Timișoara |
| Mihai Graure | Centre | (2003-01-09)9 January 2003 (age 22) | 15 | Dinamo București |
| Gabriel Pop | Centre | (1998-03-29)29 March 1998 (age 27) | 11 | Rapid |
| Atila Septar | Centre | (1996-06-02)2 June 1996 (age 29) | 8 | Nissa |
| Jason Tomane | Centre | (1995-03-04)4 March 1995 (age 30) | 27 | Baia Mare |
| Tevita Manumua | Wing | (1993-02-12)12 February 1993 (age 32) | 21 | Timișoara |
| Nicholas Onutu | Wing | (1995-12-27)27 December 1995 (age 29) | 30 | Annonay |
| Fonovai Tangimana | Wing | (1989-10-25)25 October 1989 (age 36) | 35 | Dinamo București |
| Iliesa Tiqe | Wing | (2001-04-09)9 April 2001 (age 24) | 2 | Timișoara |
| Ovidiu Neagu | Fullback | (2001-03-06)6 March 2001 (age 24) | 7 | Timișoara |
| Paul Popoaia | Fullback | (2000-05-29)29 May 2000 (age 25) | 20 | Baia Mare |
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The 1924 Romania Olympic team are the onlyRomanian inductee to have been inducted into theIRB 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 acentre and had five caps, without ever scoring, since his first match, in 1919, a 48–5 loss toFrance, inParis, for the Inter-Allied Games, and his last, at 22 May 1927, in a 21–5 win overCzechoslovakia, inBratislava.
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 the2003 Rugby World Cup match againstNamibia. He went on and featured in the2007 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 againstUkraine. He played for Romania in theIRB Nations Cup and in their2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying before appearing for them in the2007 Rugby World Cup. He played twoTests at the World Cup as a substitute against bothScotland and theAll Blacks. He also played at the2011 and2015Rugby World Cups.
Cristian Petre is Romania's most recognized player after dominating thelock 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 againstEngland and ended in 2012 againstItaly. Petre has featured in threeRugby 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 againstFrance andScotland in the Autumn internationals in 2006. He also scored a try against the French. Fercu helped guideRomania to the 2007Rugby World Cup as he played in the qualifier matches including the vital games againstGeorgia andSpain and scored a try against Spain in the game that sealed their qualification to theRugby 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 toNew Zealand. The Romanian side arrived inChristchurch to prepare for their first game of the tournament againstScotland inInvercargill on 10 September without Fercu, who failed to get on the plane when it leftRomania.
Another one of the Oaks greatest players areRomeo Gontineac, represented Romania in fourRugby World Cups from1995 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 andFrance.
The current (November 2025)[21] 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 |
| Years | Coach |
|---|---|
| 1961–1965 |  Petre Cosmănescu |
| 1965–1968 | Viorel Morariu |
| 1968–1972 | Petre Cosmănescu |
| 1973–1974 | Valeriu Irimescu |
| 1974–1981 | Petre Cosmănescu |
| 1985–1987 | Theodor Rădulescu |
| 1987–1989 | Mihai Naca |
| 1989–1990 | Theodor Rădulescu |
| 1991 | Peter Ianusevici |
| 1992–1994 | Theodor Rădulescu |
| 1994–1999 | Mircea Paraschiv |
| 1999–2001 | Eduard Suciu |
| 2002–2003 | Bernard Charreyre |
| 2004 | Phillipe Sauton |
| 2004 | Robert Antonin |
| 2005–2007 | Daniel Santamans |
| 2007–2008 | Marin Moț |
| 2008–2009 | Ellis Meachen |
| 2009 | Marin Moț |
| 2009–2010 | Serge Lairle |
| 2010–2011 | Romeo Gontineac |
| 2012 | Haralambie Dumitraș |
| 2013–2018 | Lynn Howells |
| 2018 | Thomas Lièvremont |
| 2019 | Marius Țincu (interim) |
| 2019–2022 | Andy Robinson |
| 2022–2023 | Eugen Apjok |
| 2024– | David Gérard |
| # | 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.[22]
| # | 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 on13 tries | |||||||
Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[23]
| # | 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.[24]
| # | 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.[25]
| # | Player | Pos | Pts | Tries | Conv | Pens | Drop | Opposition | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ionuţ Tofan | Fly-half | 32 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | Spain | Iași | 05/10/2002 |
| 2 | Virgil Popisteanu | Fly-half | 27 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | Portugal | Bucharest | 13/04/1996 |
| Petre Mitu | Scrum-half | 27 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | Portugal | Lisbon | 04/02/2001 | |
| 4 | Ionel Rotaru | Wing | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Portugal | Bucharest | 13/04/1996 |
| 5 | Florin Vlaicu | Fullback | 24 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | Czech Republic | Bucharest | 22/03/2008 |
| Florin Vlaicu | Centre | 24 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | Russia | Bucharest | 09/02/2013 | |
| 7 | Gelu Ignat | Fly-half | 22 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | Netherlands | Treviso | 30/09/1990 |
| Petre Mitu | Scrum-half | 22 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | Russia | Bârlad | 18/03/2001 | |
| Ionuţ Tofan | Fly-half | 22 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | Russia | Krasnodar | 24/03/2002 | |
| 10 | 5 players on21 points | |||||||||
Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[26]
| # | Player | Pos | Pts | Tries | Conv | Pens | Drop | Opposition | Venue | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gheorgie Rascanu | Flanker | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Morocco | Bucharest | 02/05/1972 | |
| Cornel Popescu | Wing | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Portugal | Bârlad | 18/10/1986 | ||
| Ionel Rotaru | Wing | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Portugal | Bucharest | 13/04/1996 | ||
| 4 | Petre Motrescu | Wing | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Italy | Bucharest | 01/05/1977 | |
| Gheorghe Solomie | Wing | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Belgium | Brussels | 04/10/1997 | ||
| Lucian Colceriu | Wing | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | Bucharest | 02/05/1998 | ||
| 7 | 11 players on3 tries | ||||||||||
Last updated: United States vs Romania, 6 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[27]
Romania's Rugby Europe Championship matches, mid year internationals and end of year internationals are currently televised byTVR.
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[28] 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.[29][30][31][32]
The origins of theoak leaf as symbol for the Romanian team date from 1979, after former Romanian international playerViorel Morariu and then-president ofFederația Română de Rugby, decided, with the consultation of specialists, that an oak leaf would be the team emblem[33] (as during the touris in the British Isles and Ireland, theCommunist coat of arms painted on the Romanian players' shirts became unrecognisable due to the rain).[34][35][36][37] TheLatin word for oak, "robur", also meant "strength" in that same language.[33][38] 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 thethen-ruling regime in Romania, whose approval was given to the Romanian federations's requests to be affiliated to theIRFB.[39] After the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the oak leaf was seen without the shield, usually accompanied by the inscription "Rugby Romania".
| 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[40] | |
| 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 |
(in Romanian)
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