Second half collapse costs Canada victory

Canada will return home from the World Cup winless after squandering a 15 point lead in a catastrophic second half, falling to Romania by a score of 17-15. Florin Vlaicu’s 78th minute penalty sealed the unlikely comeback for the Oaks, who overcame the greatest deficit to win in the tournament’s history.

The first half was all Canada, the width of their attack causing all kinds of problems for the Romanian defense. Penalty opportunities were created from the pressure, but Gordon McRorie connected with only one from three. Catalin Fercu was yellow carded for a reckless challenge in the air, the Oaks were let off the hook when Canada failed to put points on the board with the man advantage.

Rain poured into the stadium for a few short minutes, threatening to damper any open play, but it quickly subsided and Canada were again knocking on the door. Quick ball found DTH van der Merwe in scoring position and the winger took full advantage, busting through the challange of Michael Wiringi to score his fourth try of the tournament and hand his team an 8-0 lead heading into the intermission.

The second half started where the first had left off, with the Canucks quick on the attack and sending the Romanian defense backpeddling immediately. Jeff Hassler took a short ball from McRorie on the inside, spun away from Valentin Ursache, and fended his way through three defenders to score a sensational individual try. Nathan Hirayama took over the kicking duties and duly slotted the extras to give Canada their commanding three-score lead. Unfortunately for them, it was all downhill from there.

Romania’s forwards, who had been largely stifled up to that point, pulled up their socks and started to grind into their Canadian counterparts. The men in red had no answer when Johan van Heerden won clean ball some 12 metres out, set the maul, and his teammates did the rest, piling over the line with captain Mihai Macovei on the bottom. Florin Vlaicu converted and Romania were in the game.

Canada continued to struggle, and the scrum was put under immense pressure, earning penalties and field position for the Romanians. Another drive from a lineout had the Canadian pack on their heels, and Jebb Sinclair’s side entry stopped the imminent try, but landed him in the bin for a cynical foul. Macovei opted for the scrum, and spun off the back himself, diving through Phil Mack’s desperate effort to reach over the line for his country’s second try with only seven minutes remaining on the clock, Vlaicu’s conversion bringing Romania to within one.

The Canadians regained possession but instead of playing field position, they unwisely decided to run from their own territory. A knock-on handed a scrum to Romania, and the rest was predictable. The Oaks won a kickable penalty, and Vlaicu was bang on target with little more than two minutes left to play. From then it was down to Romania to kill the clock and earn a famous victory.

The loss ends a traumatic year for the Canadians, who finish with a dismal one win from 11 test matches, and their first ever World Cup whitewash. Romania have one more game remaining against Italy on Sunday at Sandy Park in Exeter.

CANADA 15
Tries – D. van der Merwe (33), J. Hassler (44)
Cons – N. Hirayama (45)
Pens – G. McRorie (11)
Yellow cards – J. Sinclair (72)

ROMANIA 17
Tries – M. Macovei 2 (53, 73)
Cons – F. Vlaicu (54, 74)
Pens – F. Vlaicu (77)
Yellow cards – C. Fercu (20)

CANADA
1 H. Buydens (D. Sears-Duru 46-54, 62) 2 R. Barkwill 3 D. Wooldridge (J. Ilnicki 68) 4 B. Beukeboom 5 J. Cudmore (capt.) 6 J. Sinclair 7 J. Moonlight (N. Dala 63) 8 A. Carpenter 9 G. McRorie (P. Mack 50) 10 N. Hirayama 11 D. van der Merwe 12 N. Blevins (C. Trainor 50) 13 C. Hearn 14 J. Hassler 15 H. Jones (J. Pritchard 75)

ROMANIA
1 M. Lazar (A. Tarus 75) 2 O. Turashvili (A. Radoi 66) 3 P. Ion (A. Ursache 46) 4 V. Poparlan 5 J. van Heerden 6 V. Ursache 7 V. Lucaci (D. Carpo 77) 8 M. Macovei (capt.) 9 F. Surugiu (V. Calafeteanu 23) 10 M. Wiringi (C. Gal 52) 11 I. Botezatu 12 F. Vlaicu 13 P. Kinikinilau 14 M. Lemnaru 15 C. Fercu