Romania head coach Eugen Apjok has named his match-day 23 to play Scotland at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday, 30 September, with Taliauli Sikuea set to make his Rugby World Cup debut for Romania on the wing.
1 Alexandru Savin
2 Robert Irimescu
3 Gheorghe Gajion
4 Adrian Motoc
5 Stefan Iancu
6 Florian Rosu
7 Dragos Ser
8 Cristian Chirica (c)
9 Gabriel Rupanu
10 Alin Conache
11 Taliauli Sikuea
12 Fonovai Tangimana
13 Jason Tomane
14 Sioeli Lama
15 Marius Simionescu
Replacements:
16 Florin Bardasu
17 Iulian Hartig
18 Costel Burtila
19 Marius Iftimiciuc
20 Damian Stratila
21 Florin Surugiu
22 Tudor Boldor
23 Nicholas Onutu
• Only five players remain in Romania’s starting line-up from the team beaten 76-0 by South Africa.
• Adrian Motoc and captain Cristian Chirica will maintain their ever-present record in the second row and at number eight, while there are three survivors in the backs in scrum-half Gabriel Rupanu, outside-centre Jason Tomane and full-back Marius Simionescu.
• Head coach Eugen Apjok has handed a Rugby World Cup debut to former Tonga sevens international Taliauli Sikuea, who replaces Onutu on the left wing.
• Sioeli Lama will also make his RWC debut on the other wing, while replacement front-row forward Costel Burtila could win his first RWC cap.
• Alin Conache wins his eighth cap but his first as the starting fly-half. Normally a scrum-half, Conache has been pressed into action as an emergency 10 following a tournament-ending injury to Hinckley Vaovasa.
• Replacement scrum-half Florin Surugiu turns 39 in December and is the second oldest player in the tournament after Namibia’s PJ van Lill.
