HOSTS Romania, the South African Kings and Portugal all got their 2011 IRB Nations Cup campaigns off to winning starts in Bucharest with respective wins against Namibia, defending champions Georgia and the Argentina Jaguars.
In the opening match of the 2011 IRB Nations Cup hosts Romania edged fellow Rugby World Cup qualifiers Namibia 13-11 in Bucharest.Reigning Nations Cup holders Namibia featured 11 of their 2010 vintage, but narrowly failed in their quest to subdue a fairly pedestrian Romanian side in the opening match of the IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest.’We failed to take our chances and although we did not play badly, we failed to put points on the board, which in the end cost us dearly, as we had to play catch-up rugby,’ said Namibian coach, Johan Diergaardt.The Romanians on the other hand, took advantage of the Namibians’ shaky start and the sin-binning of tight head Jane de Toit to score a valuable try through their burly number 8, Daniel Carpo.With the hosts leading 13-3 at the break, Namibia needed to score first in the second half, and did so through full back Chrysander Botha. But the defensive bonus point was all they could muster as the stern Romanian defence held firm and a string of unforced errors and countless penalties doomed the efforts of both teams to add to their tally.’At the end of the day a win is a win, though we did not play to our full potential and made too many unforced errors, both individual and as a team. But we are in the early stages of preparation, personally this was my first match since February and we need a few more days to gel together,’ said Romanian captain, Marius Tincu. The second round of matches are to be played on Wednesday with Georgia taking on the Argentina Jaguars, Romania playing the SA Kings and Portugal facing Namibia. – irb.com
