Romania will face Uruguay for the 20th and final place at Rugby World Cup 2011 after both recorded wins in their respective cross-continental play-offs.
Romania defeated Tunisia 56-13 at the Stadionul Gloria in Buzau,
Romania, while Uruguay dispatched Kazakhstan 44-7 at the Charrúa
stadium in Montevideo to secure their places in the two-match
play-off final - a home and away series in Montevideo and Bucharest
scheduled for November.
The two-leg clash between Los Teros and the Romanian
"Oaks" is the final act of the RWC 2011 qualifying
process, which commenced in the Grand Cayman in April 2008, with
the winner, the 20th qualifier, joining Argentina, England,
Scotland and Georgia in Pool B.
Romania 56-13 Tunisia
In Buzau, Romania were led from the front by captain Stelian
Burcea, with fly half Dan Dumbrava having a great day with the boot
to subdue the lively, never say-die Tunisia 56-13.
Dumbrava, who landed three penalties and kicked all five of
his conversion attempts for a 100% match tally of 19 points,
controlled of the game, well serviced by scrum half Valentin Ivan
initially and then after his injury by Valentin Calafeteanu, who
made a successful comeback from injury.
The senior Romanian scrum half Lucian Sirbu, injured in
training, watched as Calafeteanu brought both direction and edge to
the Romanian attack, scoring a try himself in the second half.
"Maybe this was not our best game, but in the end the
boys delivered," commented Romania assistant coach Steve
McDowell. "One should remember that we have had a three week
break and most of the players are on holidays.
"We will start to work on the match against Uruguay,
when I hope the standard of our players will be much higher, as the
domestic leagues will start in September and our players will be
better prepared and motivated," he added.
Uruguay 44-7 Kazakhstan
Leandro Leivas and Martín Crosa both scored two tries as
Uruguay eased past Kazakhstan in the other cross-continental
play-off for RWC 2011.
Coached by former Soviet and Russia regular Evgeny Zuev,
Kazakhstan battled bravely, but were overwhelmed by the powerful
Uruguayan pack. The scrum was the cornerstone of a satisfying
Uruguay win, hooker and skipper Carlos Arboleya leading from the
front.
However, it was the fleet-footed Uruguayans backs who did
most of the damage, with outside centre Crosa and Leivas ending up
with a brace of tries each. Uruguay were also awarded a penalty try
late in the second half.
Analysing the matches
The similarities of the two weekend matches augur well for
the two leg RWC 2011 play-off final in November.
It is clear that two winning sides play a fairly similar
game, with great emphasis on set-piece possession and tactical
kicking and that their clashes in November will provide keenly
fought encounters.
In their two previous matches, both at the IRB Nations Cup in
Bucharest, in 2008 and 2009, Romania have enjoyed narrow wins over
Uruguay, 17-11 and 10-6.
The large winning margins in both cross-continental play-offs
flattered the hosts, as both Kazakhstan and Tunisia battled
gallantly until the very end, showing in patches their potential
and rugby nous.
With both hosting sides unable to find their rhythm early on
and the visitors displaying great courage in adversity, the first
tries were scored after about 20 minutes, in Buzau by Romanian
inside centre Ionut Dimofte and in La Charrua by right-wing Leandro
Leivas.
Both Romania and Uruguay seemed to lose their way after the
break, which enabled the visitors to put them under tremendous
pressure for a short while.
Overwhelmed in the scrum, both Tunisia and Kazakhstan
conceded a penalty try each in fairly similar circumstances yet,
defying the odds, they managed to score a try each, Tunisia's
by Yosri Souguir and Kazakhstan by Ildar Abdrazakov.
In both matches it was the kickers who scored the first
points; in Buzau it was Tunisia's outside half Chemseddine
Khalifa who drew first blood, while in Montevideo it was
Uruguay's fly half Emiliano Caffera who landed the first
penalty.