Romania Rugby Team

Rugby was first played competitively in Romania back in 1924, when Romania and France tried to establish a rival to the Five Nations Championship. However, the competition never really took hold and France comprehensively beat Romania 59-3. Later that year, Romania was one of only three teams to enter the Olympics. However, the Romania Rugby team were once again comprehensively beaten by France and comfortably beaten by the USA.

Following World War Two, the Romania Rugby team finally came to prominence. Backed by the communist state, the side was successful throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s. During this period, they beat France for the first time and gained several wins over established sides. As this point, the team also gained the nickname ‘The Oaks’, which they still use to this day. The nickname stemmed from the team’s distinctive style of play, which was built around giant, bruising packs.

However, the fall of communism in the country meant that rugby lost funding and Romania lost many top stars to France and Italy before the turn of the millennium. Thankfully, the decline was halted in 2002 and ever since the Romania Rugby team have begun to re-establish themselves on the international stage. Since the 2001-02 season, they’ve won the Rugby Europe Championship four times and the World Rugby Nations Cup on three occasions. In addition, in the history of the Rugby World Cup, they’ve qualified for every edition of the tournament and completed well in the pools stage. However, they were expelled from the 2019 tournament after qualification because they fielded an ineligible player.