Romania's national team, defeated by Georgia in the semifinals of the European Rugby Championship » The “Oaks” will play for 3rd place
Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published on Sunday, 08 March 2026, 16:33 / Updated on Sunday, 08 March 2026 16:34
The Romanian national rugby team was defeated by Georgia with a score of 30-53, on Sunday, at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi, in the semifinals of the European Rugby Championship.
Following this success, the Georgians also won the Antim Ivireanul trophy, awarded to the team that prevails in direct duels between the two selected teams.
Romania started the game well
The “Oaks” quickly opened the scoring in the 3rd minute with a free kick converted by Gabriel Conache. Romania maintained the pressure at the beginning of the game, but in the 16th minute Tedo Abzhandadze restored equality for the hosts.
Conache also put the Romanians back in the lead in the 18th minute, but the Georgians reacted quickly, and Otari Metreveli scored the first try of the match, converted by Abzhandadze.
Until the break, the hosts scored again through Akaki Tabutsadze, and the table after the first 40 minutes was set by another penalty kick by Conache: 15-9 for Georgia.
Georgia broke away after the break
After the restart, the Georgians continued to dominate and quickly scored through Beka Saginadze. Later, Tornike Jalagonia managed another essay, converted by Abzhandadze.
Romania's reply came in the 54th minute, when captain Cristi Boboc managed to score an essay, converted by Conache. During the second half, Romania also evolved in numerical inferiority, after the yellow cards received by Alexandru Savin and Iliesa Tiqe, and the hosts took advantage and scored through Mikheili Shioshvili and again through Jalagonia.
Romania also scored in the end with Damian Bonaparte's essay, converted by Conache, and the last word again went to Cristi Boboc, who scored a new essay, converted by Daniel Plai. Final score: 53-30 for Georgia.
Four debutants in the Romanian team
The Romanian national team had four debutants, all naturalized players. Logan Weidner, Dylan Schwartz and Damian Bonaparte started, while Jondre Williams started the game on the bench.
Following this result, Romania will play the small final of the European Championship against the loser of the other semi-final, between the national team of Spain and the national team of Portugal, a match scheduled for Sunday afternoon, from 17:00.
