Boot change seals Romanian fightback

LEICESTER — A change of boots made all the difference for centre Florin Vlaicu, as he kicked Romania to the biggest comeback victory in Rugby World Cup history yesterday.

Canada, Romania’s Pool D opponents, had led 15-0 before Romania produced two converted tries in an inspired second-half surge to cut down the deficit to 14-15 with three minutes left.

Then came Vlaicu’s heroic moment. The Romanians were awarded a penalty 35m out and Vlaicu nailed it, taking his match tally to seven points after he converted both of his captain Mihai Macovei’s second-half tries.

It was a welcome change of fortune, after both of his first-half penalties fell short, the second one bouncing off the base of the right post.

After the game, the 29-year-old Vlaicu revealed why he had been way off target with his kicking in the first half: He had worn the wrong boots.

“It was too large on my right foot, that’s why I didn’t kick so well, but the second half, it was better,” said Romania’s record points scorer, who has 634 Test points and is aiming to reach 1,000.

That’s a long-term goal, but he has other priorities first.

Romania have one more match left in the tournament, against Italy on the weekend, and a win will guarantee third place in Pool D and automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

“I am going to keep them in the game against Italy and hope to do history for my country,” Vlaicu said. “This is our target; when we started to prepare for the World Cup our target was to win two games. This was one, was our semi-final, and we have a final against Italy.”

Meanwhile, Romania coach Lynn Howells will allow his players some beer to toast the biggest comeback in World Cup history, but it will only be a couple given their fourth Pool D match is only a few days away.

“They’ll have a beer, but it’s not going to be to any great extent,” he said. “It will be in the team room and we’ll have full control on what they do drink.” AGENCIES