Moldova national rugby union team

Moldova
Union Moldovan Rugby Federation
Coach(es) Sergiu Motoc
Captain(s) Alexandru Şîşcanu
Team kit
First international
Moldova  22 -6  Lithuania
(1993-10-10)
Largest win
Moldova  55 - 6  Luxembourg
(2005-04-16)
Largest defeat
Moldova  5 - 65  Croatia
(1997-05-10)

The Moldova national rugby union team represent Moldova at rugby union. They are governed by the Moldovan Rugby Federation (Federatia de Rugby din Moldova), and have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

Contents

History

Main article: Rugby union in Moldova

Moldova played their first international on October 10, 1991 against Lithuania. Moldova won the match, 22 points to six. The next year they played against Bulgaria, which Moldova won, 42 points to three. Moldova played Hungary in 1995, which they won, by three points, 17 to 14.

They played Georgia, who defeated them 47 to five. They then played Ukraine and Latvia and Bulgaria.

Moldova played twice in 1997, defeating Norway and losing to Croatia. They won a number of fixtures in 2000. They played the Netherlands the following year. The national rugby team was designated by the members of Moldova's Sports Press Association as the best Moldovan team in 2004. Following this, they played in qualifying tournaments for the 2007 Rugby World Cup European qualify.

Moldova were grouped in Pool B of the second round, and they won two of their four matches, which saw them finish second in their pool behind Germany, and thus move onto round three and enter Pool A.

Popularity

Perhaps surprisingly, the popularity of rugby in Moldova is growing rapidly, with well over 10,000 fans regularly turning up to their home matches in the European Nations Cup. Since 2004, the number of Moldovan rugby players has more than doubled, due to the national team's growing international reputation.

Notable players

Moldovan international Alexei Cotruţa was the top try-scorer in the Russian Professional Rugby League in 2006, scoring 16 tries in 14 matches for Moscow-area side VVA-Podmoskovye.

During March 2011, Vadim Cobîlaş signed for Aviva Premiership side, Sale Sharks. He is the first Moldovan player to sign for a professional English team.

Current squad

Head Coach: Sergiu Motoc
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by the International Rugby Board.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province
Ion Dascal Hooker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Dumitru Vasilachi Hooker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} RC Kredo 63
Vadim Cobîlaş Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Sale Sharks
Maxim Cobîlaş Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VVA-Podmoskovye Monino
Veaceslav Titica Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Slava Moscow
Dumitru Arhip Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Dinamo Rugby Bucureşti
Andrei Romanov Lock {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VVA-Podmoskovye Monino
Maxim Gargalîc Lock {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Farul Constanta
Vitalie Gîra Lock {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} UTM Chişinău
Alexandru Şîşcanu Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Slava Moscow
Sergiu Castraveţ Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} RK Novokouznetsk
Victor Arhip Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Dinamo Rugby Bucureşti
Dumitru Enache Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Durango ilarduya rugby taldea
Oleg Prepeliţa Number 8 {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} SL Benfica
Nicolae Chirilă Scrum-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Krasny Yar
Nicolae Caburgan Scrum-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Octavian Manoli Fly-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} UTM Chişinău
Adrian Baltag Centre {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} SL Benfica
Gheorghe Voloşciuc Centre {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Alexandru Bulgac Centre {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Alexei Cotruţa Centre {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VVA-Podmoskovye Monino
Eduard Toderica Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Olimp Electromaş Tiraspol
Ion Buşila Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Veaceslav Lozinschi Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Ştefan Leca Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Alexandru Matveev Fullback {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} USEFS Blumarine
Vasile Leu Fullback {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} UTM Chişinău

External links