Invercargill is as pretty as a picture as one of the minnows of the tournament takes on one of the more established teams. Scotland are regarded the 7th best team in the world and play in the 6 Nations tournament each year. Romania are 17th in the rankings and struggle to secure enough matches with the big guns to improve.
If many vocal pundits had their way the RWC would be contested between the 12 best nations with the Romanias left to play a lower tier competition. This game shows why we should continue to grow the tournament and foster the likes of Romania.
The first turning point occurs only 8 minutes into the game. Scotland are flexing their muscle and have scored a penalty and a nifty try under the sticks by half back Mike Blair. The simple conversion will put them 10 points in front and Romania a long way behind. But Stalwart fullback Chris Patterson with 780 international points under his belt inexplicably misses the easiest kick of his life right in front of the posts. The ball dribbled along the ground in front of him like a grubber kick. Humorous for us, embarrassing for him. The lead stays at 8 and the amused crowd have no idea how important this miss may become.
Romania realise they are outclassed in the backs and shift the game into a forward battle, they begin to dominate particularly at scrum time. They gradually start exerting pressure on the Scots by sticking to the basics, accumulating points through penalties and they get within striking distance.
When Romanian Skipper Mihaita Alexandru Lazar scores a try close on half time, his team feel a surge of belief. They play the 30 minutes of their lives and with 10 minutes left to go a boil-over is on the cards, as they lead 24-21. A penalty brings Scotland level, but still a dream beckons.
Sadly for supporters of the underdog, the second turning point was a brace of tries to Scotland winger Simon Danielli as the expected result ends up playing out. Cruelly the 34-24 final score means Romania emerge from the match with no points to go with their renewed pride.
Scotland on the other hand gain 5 points, and a clear indication that they need to improve their basics and set piece if they are going to press on in the tournament.
Final score 34 - 24
2 Games 13 tries
Tweet of the match - "This team is the best thing to come out of Romania since Dracula" @alilkram
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