Canada v Romania: Rugby World Cup Pool D preview
Last Updated: 06/10/15 6:29am
Romania coach Lynn Howells has made seven changes to his starting line-up for Tuesday's World Cup match against Canada in Leicester.
The Romanians, who lost their opening two Pool D games against France and Ireland, are bidding to secure third place in the group by beating Canada and Italy, thereby earning automatic qualification for the 2019 tournament.
Prop Paulica Ion will make his 10th World Cup appearance, while fellow front-row forward Mihaita Lazar and lock Valentin Poparlan will win their 50th Test caps.
"We have no new injuries," Howells said. "It's the ability to see the opposition and really pick a team that plays against the opposition. This game gives us an opportunity to get a result and that gives a different outlook altogether.
"We set two goals. The first one, we've achieved, as we showed that we can play against the tier-one nations.
"The second goal is that we would have two wins and would go straight to Japan 2019. It gives us four years' preparation, which would be huge for Romanian rugby."
Howells described the game against Canada, who lost their first three group games, as a semi-final for his team.
"It's that important," he said. "The players have put in a lot of hard work and this is what they deserve."
Romania have beaten Canada in their previous two meetings but will not be taking them lightly.
"It's not going to be the same game this time. This is the World Cup. We are preparing for anything. The World Cup starts for us now," Romania captain Mihai Macovei said.
"This is a very important game for us. Canada have a great system. They play with a lot of structure. When we played them twice in Bucharest they were very organised. Nothing complicated, they get the simple things right."
Canada coach Kieran Crowley has made six changes to his starting line-up, giving veteran lock Jamie Cudmore a chance to equal the national record for most World Cup appearances.
Cudmore, playing in his fourth World Cup, will equal Rod Snow's mark of 14 and he will also captain the side for the second time in the tournament.
James Pritchard, Canada's leading international scorer, could also get a start in a fourth World Cup after being included on the bench in the 23-man squad as Canada look to bounce back from their 41-18 loss to France on Thursday.
Canada prop Djustice Sears-Duru has emphasised the importance of the scrum, which has functioned well at the World Cup, particularly in the slender 23-18 defeat against Italy.
"I think our set-piece has got a lot better over the tournament," he said. "We've got some good options and hopefully we can show them what we have and get some scores.
"I think we are now playing fast-paced rugby, the kind which could have won both games. I think we've got a good game plan against Romania."
Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Ionut Botezatu, 10 Michael Wiringi, 9 Florin Surugiu; 1 Mihaita Lazar, 2 Otar Turashvili, 3 Paulica Ion, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 5 Johannes van Heerden, 6 Valentin Ursache, 7 Viorel Lucaci, 8 Mihai Macovei (capt).
Replacements: 16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Andrei Ursache, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Daniel Carpo, 20 Stelian Burcea, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Adrian Apostol, 23 Csaba Gal.
Canada: 15 Harry Jones, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH Van Der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie; 1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Ray Barkwill, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 5 Jamie Cudmore (capt), 6 Jebb Sinclair, 7 John Moonlight, 8 Aaron Carpenter.
Replacements: 16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Kyle Gilmour, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Conor Trainor, 23 James Pritchard.
