Scotland eye Romania as ‘kick on’ towards Ireland showdown

LILLE – Scotland face a struggling Romania in the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, but coach Gregor Townsend and his players will have one eye on next week’s game with world No. 1 Ireland.

Townsend’s side are expected to comfortably beat the Oaks in their Pool B clash in Lille with a bonus-point victory, which they need to keep their quarter-finals hopes alive.

They will then have to repeat the feat on Oct 7 against the Irish.

After losing to holders South Africa on the opening weekend and then beating Tonga, Scotland’s future in the World Cup hangs in the balance. The Scots are third on five points, behind Ireland (14) and the Springboks (10).

“This weekend is vital and it’s the only thing we can control at the minute,” stand-in captain Grant Gilchrist said.

“Without five points this weekend, we can’t even talk about next weekend. A better performance really launches us into next week. If we can do that, we’ll put ourselves in the best position to kick on.”

Former Scotland and British and Irish Lions fly-half Townsend has made 13 changes to the team who brushed aside Tonga 45-17 in Nice last Sunday.

Fly-half Ben Healy is one of four players set to make their World Cup debuts with the 24-year-old replacing the influential Finn Russell on just his fourth Test appearance.

“On the field, he is confident to tell forwards what they should be doing, what we’re doing next in our attack, which is great. That is what you want in a No. 10,” Townsend added.

“He’s also someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously off the field. He’s a character. I know the players and him have a lot of fun. He has fit in really well with the group.”

Romania, 14 places below Townsend’s fifth-placed side in the world rankings, have conceded 158 points in their opening two games, heavy defeats by Ireland (82-8) and South Africa (76-0).

But the Irish-born Healy is not taking them lightly, saying: “We know what we need from this game. There’s no point looking to next week and not getting what we want on Saturday.”

Romania coach Eugen Apjok has kept only five players from the rout by the Springboks on Sept 17.

The Oaks’ lack of recent top-level Test matches has been highlighted at the World Cup, having reached France only after Spain were thrown out of the competition for fielding an ineligible player during qualification.

They are far from the side who beat Scotland in 1991 or the outfit who ran the same opponents close 12 years ago at the World Cup in New Zealand, the last meeting between the sides which ended 34-24.

“It’s a big challenge for the team and I hope we take something from the first two games. It wasn’t what we were looking for, but I hope the players will learn a lot of things,” Apjok said.

“They understand against Scotland, we need to do it more and I’m sure they’ll give everything and it will be a better game for us.”
AFP, REUTERS