Dan Carter wannabe Alin Conache looking to kick on in 2026

After a prolific season with the boot in 2025, versatile Romania back Alin Conache insists he is not focused on more personal glory but an improved campaign for the Oaks in the Rugby Europe Championship, which will be shown live on RugbyPass TV.

Conache’s 73 points from nine Test appearances made him the eighth-highest points scorer in world rugby last year, and the third-highest from Europe behind France’s Thomas Ramos and Ireland’s Sam Prendergast.

And added to that, his ability to play scrum-half, fly-half and centre makes him invaluable to a team looking to slowly recover from the series of hidings handed to them at Rugby World Cup 2023, in which Conache played a part despite only making his Test debut earlier that year.

Romania, who finished third in the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship, face fixtures against Germany, Belgium and fellow RWC 2027 qualifiers, Portugal, in this year’s edition.

“It was a good season but it is not my main achievement, my main achievement is to help the team to win games, I am not looking at how many points I scored, I am just looking for us to win games,” Conache told RugbyPass.

“We got the third place, it was good, we wanted to be ranked higher, but it was okay. We will do our best to try and achieve more this year.

“Portugal is a good team, and so are Belgium, they showed they can compete a lot; they almost qualified for the World Cup, they drew with Samoa 13-13.”

Conache was named today as one of two scrum-halves, along with fellow youngster Toma Mîrzac, in the initial 34-man Romania squad for the Rugby Europe Championship opener against Germany on February 8th.

With veteran Florian Surugiu now retired, Romania are short of experience at nine, although Comache has already accumulated 27 caps in three years of Test rugby.

Does he have a preferred position? “I don’t know, I just want to be on the field and play and try to help my team win games. I don’t think about positions.

Conache once dreamed of being like Dan Carter, putting sticks in the ground in his family garden in Bucharest as makeshift uprights.

“When I was younger I looked up to Dan Carter a lot, he was my favourite player, so that it why I started to kick, and also my brothers, they were kickers too, so they had a big input,” said the fluent English speaker.

“I used to put two sticks in the garden, and tried to kick the ball between them. They were not so big, the sticks, but it was enough for me because I was only eight years old or 10 years old, or something like this.

“I was thinking like this (at the World Cup), about where I started and where I am now. I can do better but, for now, it is a good start.”

Conache, who plays for Steaua in the six-team Romanian league, got to follow in his idol’s footsteps when he joined one of the All Blacks legend’s former club’s, Perpignan, as a teenager.

The Catalan club offered him an Espoirs contract but he declined. “When I was younger I could have stayed with Perpignan Espoirs but they only offered a place to stay, and at that time I was struggling with money and it was hard,” he explained.

Rugby runs deep in the Conache family. His father Vasile is a well-known rugby coach in Romania and was Conache’s first coach until he turned 14.

His oldest brother, Tiberiu, played for CSM Bucharest, Bucharest Wolves in the European Challenge Cup, and for many years for Romania 7s, before relocating to England, where he works as a plumber.

His other brother, Gabriel, another utility back, played for SCM Timisoara, Conache’s former club, and they appeared in the same team together on a couple of occasions.

One subject inevitably crops in conversations on the rare occasions when they are all gathered together around the family dinner table. “Every time we talk about rugby, my mother is saying, ‘stop, please!'”

Romania head coach David Gérard has included two uncapped players in his first squad of the year – back-rower Eduard Cioroaba and centre Daniel Jipa. Nine of the squad play their club rugby in France.

Gérard will not be able to call upon the services of Gabriel Rupanu, Jason Tomane, Marius Simionescu, Gabriel Pop, Adrian Mitu and Atila Septar until the end of February at the earliest due to injury.

Romania’s initial Rugby Europe Championship squad:

Front-row: Alexandru Savin (CS Rapid), Iulian Hartig (CS Dinamo), Joji Sikote, Cosmin Manole (CS Dinamo), Gheorghe Gajion (Mont de Marsan), Thomas Cretu (Dax), Tudor Butnariu (SCM USV Timisoara), Stefan Buruiana (SC Albi), Lukas Mitu (Castres).
Second-row: Marius Antonescu (Narbonne), Matthew Tweddle (CSA Steaua), Nicolaas Immelman (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Andrei Mahu (Massy), Adrian Motoc (Nissa Rugby).
Back-row: Dragos Ser (SCM USV Timisoara), Vlad Neculau (SCM USV Timisoara), Kemal Altinok (SCM USV Timisoara), Cristi Boboc (CSA Steaua), Eduard Cioroaba (CS Dinamo).
Scrum-halves: Toma Mîrzac (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Alin Conache (CSA Steaua).
Fly-halves: Daniel Jipa (CS Rapid), Stefan Cojocariu (CS Rapid), Hinckley Vaovasa (unattached).
Centres: Alexandru Bucur (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Fonovai Tangimana (CS Dinamo), Antonio Mitrea (Stade Aurillacois Espoirs), Taylor Gontineac (AS Béziers Hérault).
Wings: Tevita Manumua (SCM USV Timisoara), Toni Maftei (unattached), Tiqe Iliesa (SCM USV Timisoara), Taliauli Sikuea (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare).
Full-backs: Paul Popoaia (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Ovidiu Neagu (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare).