Scotland v Romania preview: Gregor Townsend’s side to rack up comfortable win

Scotland will look to pick up maximum points and improve their points difference when they take on Romania in their penultimate pool game of the World Cup.

A much-changed XV has the chance to impress this week in Lille as Gregor Townsend’s team set about keeping the pressure on South Africa and Ireland in Pool B.

Following the weekend it’s likely this Pool of Death will read South Africa 15 points, Ireland 14 and Scotland 10, with all eyes then turning to Ireland v Scotland.

With a great deal of focus going into the showdown with the Irish, it’s unsurprising to see Townsend rotate his starting XV to keep his prized possessions fresh.

However, there’s still plenty of talent on show like Darcy Graham, Kyle Steyn, Ali Price, Hamish Watson and Grant Gilchrist as Scotland hunt a maximum haul.

Ben Healy’s inclusion at 10 is also noteworthy as Finn Russell takes a week off, with the former having impressed since making the jump up to Test honours.

It promises to be a long night for Romania, who lost out 82-8 to Ireland and 76-0 against South Africa in their opening games, with a similar result predicted.

What they said

Scotland captain for the day, Grant Gilchrist, spoke ahead of the game and urged his players to remain calm, with a bonus-point win needing to be a team effort.

“This will be a team full of energy. The important thing for us is that we play as a team and don’t go individual. It’s very easy when you have got loads of energy and excitement around playing and you see opportunities, you try to take them too early,” he said.

“We’ve talked about being patient, making sure that we support each other. All we’re asking is for the guys to go out there and do their job this weekend.

“We’re not expecting guys who have maybe not played for a few weeks to go out there and try to be something they’re not. Just be the best players within themselves, play to our systems, play as a team. That’s been the messaging this week and what will be the most important thing about our performance.”

Romania head coach Eugen Apjok gave an honest assessment of how his charges have fared in Pool B and what he wants from his side when they face Scotland.

“We know we are in the death pool. 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,” he said.

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

Great to see Ben Healy get a start at a RWC. pic.twitter.com/9rdbgTIPww

— Overthehillprop (@Overthehillprop) September 28, 2023

Players to watch

As mentioned, Ben Healy has taken to international rugby with ease and has impressed head coach Townsend with his option taking, kicking game and calmness in his decision making. This fixture is ideal for him to grow on the Test scene and it would be no surprise if he created several tries in Lille.

In the pack there’s a first Test start for tighthead prop Javan Sebastian, who will be looking to make the most of his opportunity while the same could be said of Hamish Watson, with Rory Darge having started Scotland’s first two tournament games in the number seven jersey so this is a chance to shine.

Much like Sebastian, it will be special occasion for Romania wings Taliauli Sikuea and Sioeli Lama, who both make their Rugby World Cup debuts. The pair will have their work cut out against Graham and Steyn while the tournament’s second oldest player, Florin Surugiu (39), makes Romania’s bench.

Prediction

It’s been a painful Rugby World Cup campaign thus far for Romania and things are unlikely to improve against the Scots who, despite making plenty of changes, still have plenty of quality on show this weekend. The bonus-point win should be secured by half-time in a Scotland win by 55 points.

Previous results

2011: Scotland won 34-24 in Invercargill
2007: Scotland won 42-0 at Murrayfield
2006: Scotland won 48-6 at Murrayfield
2005: Scotland won 39-19 in Bucharest
2002: Scotland won 37-10 at Murrayfield

The teams

Scotland: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 George Horne, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Huw Jones

Romania: 15 Marius Simionescu, 14 Sioeli Lama, 13 Jason Tomane, 12 Fonovai Tangimana, 11 Taliauli Sikuea, 10 Alin Conache, 9 Gabriel Rupanu, 8 Cristian Chirica (c), 7 Dragos Ser, 6 Florian Rosu, 5 Stefan Iancu, 4 Adrian Motoc, 3 Gheorghe Gajion, 2 Robert Irimescu, 1 Alexandru Savin
Replacements: 16 Florin Bardasu, 17 Iulian Hartig, 18 Costel Burtila, 19 Marius Iftimiciuc, 20 Damian Stratila, 21 Florin Surugiu, 22 Tudor Boldor, 23 Nicholas Onutu

Date: Saturday, September 30
Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
Kick off: 21:00 local (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (IRFU), Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZR)

READ MORE: World Rugby slammed for ‘horrendous idea’ to move World Cups off free-to-air channels