PREVIEW – After a lopsided loss to Scotland, Canada looks to rebound in the Canada vs Romania match that takes place on Friday at 7:00pm ET at TD Place Stadium. This is while Romania looks to continue their momentum after beating the U.S. The Rugby Canada roster can be seen here. Canada is ranked 22nd in the world while Romania is ranked 20th in the world (Source: Rugby Canada X Account).
Canada vs Romania: Rugby Canada Will Be Looking to Respond
Rugby Canada
The Canadians lost 73-12 to Scotland last Saturday. This is what their head coach, Kingsley Jones, had to say about the game (Source: Canadian Press of Everything GP):
“I think the scoreboard flattered them a little but ultimately the scoreboard doesn’t lie,” said Jones. “Just a couple of soft tries.”
Jones also said this in the same article:
There were only three try scorers for Canada in the game, with Lucas Rumball, Kyle Baillie, and Peter Nelson all scoring tries as Scotland won the Douglas Horn Trophy.
A notable player from the team is Ben LeSage, who the New England Revolution describes as (Source: New England Free Jacks):
Rugby Romania
Romania made history on July 5, 2024, and won their first-ever game against the U.S. in U.S. soil by a scoreline of 22-20. As a result, they won the Pershing Cup, and will look to continue this momentum heading into Friday with the same quote from the Canadian Press article:
“I expect a physical battle,” said Jones, who saw plenty of the Romanians during his coaching stint with Russia. “They enjoy the confrontational side of the game, particularly (the) scrum and maul,” he added. “They also have some very good and very physical backs.”
Romania has a professional men’s rugby union league called the Liga de Rugby Kaufland. Their captain, Marius Simionescu, has been with the national team since 2017 and plays in his country’s local professional rugby union team, the SCM USV Timișoara. The Romanian full-back will be one player to watch for as a Rugby Canada fan.
Head-To-Head and the Crowd
READ MORE: Scotland v Canada: A Big Match Coming Up in Ottawa
The Canadians won the first two meetings between the two teams in the 1991 and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. However, since then, it has been all Romania. This included Canada losing to Romania in the 2015 Rugby World Cup and the recent loss in the friendly by a scoreline of 25-9 in 2017, which was also the same game where Simionescu made his debut with the Romanian team.
There is some hope though as Canada is playing at home. There were 11,447 fans that attended the game at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario (Source: Rugby Canada).
They will be playing once again in Ottawa at TD Place Stadium at 7:00pm ET on Friday. The game will be televised nationally on TSN4.
Photo Credit: Rugby Canada
