The final match on Saturday in the 2023 Rugby World Cup will see Scotland hoping to claim a big win over Romania in Pool B at The Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d'Ascq.
Scotland are currently in third place in Pool B with five points, behind the Springboks and Ireland, while Romania sit at the bottom of the standings and are yet to record a point in the tournament.
Match preview
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The Scots have been very good over the last year and would likely have cracked a top-two finish in one of the other pools, but unfortunately, they were drawn into the group of death alongside the two highest-ranked teams in the world.
After losing their opening match of the competition 18-3 to South Africa, Scotland bounced back with a 45-17 win over Tonga last week, scoring an impressive seven tries and securing a bonus point in the process.
Kyle Steyn, Rory Darge, George Turner, and Duhan van der Merwe all got over the try line inside the first half, while Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham added a further two tries in the second period.
However, having lost to the Boks and with Ireland still unbeaten in the competition, the Scots will need another bonus-point victory here to keep their hopes of reaching the quarter-final alive for at least another week.
Assuming they get the bouns-point win here, Gregor Townsend's side must then defeat Ireland in their last match, and if they achieve that, the points difference becomes crucial, highlighting this game's significance given Ireland and South Africa's substantial victories over Romania.
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Meanwhile, Romania have turned out to be one of the tournament's most disappointing teams, as they were viewed as potential upset-makers leading up to the competition, having pushed several tier-one sides to the limit over the last 18 months.
However, they had absolutely no answer to the likes of Cobus Reinach and Makazole Mapimpi, who bagged a hat-trick of tries each in their last match as they slumped to a 76-0 loss in their second match of the competition.
That result followed an 82-8 thrashing at the hand of the world number one Ireland, and unfortunately for the Owls, it will not be much easier going into this match against a Scotland team that are fighting for their tournament survival.
Summing those results up, Romania have conceded 158 points and 23 tries, which is the second-most in the competition behind Namibia, while they have also struggled to score, managing only eight points and one try across both their matches.
Given their form in this competition, it is unsurprising to see Eugen Apjok's side showing up as massive outsiders for this match, and most would agree that another big scoreline is likely on the cards in this one as well.
Scotland Rugby World Cup form:
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Scotland form (all competitions):
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Romania Rugby World Cup form:
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Romania form (all competitions):
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Team News
Townsend has overhauled his Scotland starting lineup, making 13 changes, leaving only Steyn and Chris Harris in the starting 15 from the team that secured a 45-17 victory over Tonga in their second match.
Steyn will shift to the left wing, replacing van der Merwe, and in the back three, he is accompanied by full-back Ollie Smith and right winger Darcy Graham, who returns to the startling lineup.
The revamped pack features Matt Fagerson at number eight, Hamish Watson in the openside role, and Luke Crosbie on the blindside, while captain Jamie Ritchie is absent from the squad due to a concussion sustained in the match against Tonga.
Apjok, meanwhile, announced his matchday 23 and has handed a starting place to Taliauli Sikuea, who will make his Rugby World Cup debut for the Owls on the left wing in place of Nicholas Onutu.
Ever-presents Adrian Motoc and captain Cristian Chirica keep their places in the second row and at number eight respectively, along with Gabriel Rupanu, Jason Tomane, and full-back Marius Simionescu.
Scotland starting lineup: 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 starting lineup: 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
Head To Head
These teams have met 13 times in the past, and Scotland have won 11 matches while Romania have won two. There have been three previous World Cup matches between the sides and Scotland have won all of them.
We say: Scotland 62-7 Romania
Despite resting several players ahead of their match against Ireland next week, Scotland should still be too strong for Romania here. A big score is needed for the Scots, and we feel they win by at least a 50-point margin.
No Data Analysis info
Devesh Jaganath
