Romeo Ștefan Gontineac (born 18 December 1973 in Hlipiceni, Botoşani) is a Romanian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach and former player who played as a centre. He currently coaches

Aurillac Aurillac (; oc, Orlhac ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aurillacois'' or ''Aurillacoises''. Geography Aurillac is at above sea leve ...

. Gontineac played for

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

(1993–96) in Romania, South Western Districts (1996), in South Africa. He moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he played for

FC Grenoble The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892. FCG was champion of France in 1954 and runner-up in 1918 and in 1993 during a controversial final, being deprived of the title of cham ...

(1996–97),

Section Paloise Section Paloise (, Bearnese: ), commonly referred to as ''Section'' or as ''Pau'' , is a professional rugby union club based in Pau, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. Their home g ...

(1997–98) and

(1998–2010), where he finished his playing career. Gontineac has 76 caps for Romania, with 13 tries scored, 68 points in aggregate. He played all the matches for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in four

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

finals, in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007. He also captained his country on several occasions.Romeo Gontineac International Statistics
/ref> In May 2010, he was appointed as head coach of the Romanian national team replacing

Serge Lairle Serge Lairle (born Toulouse, 3 December 1956) is a French rugby union former footballer and a current coach. He played as a prop, lock and hooker. He played for Stade Toulousain, from 1975/76 to 1989/90, when he finished his career. He played also ...

of France. Gontineac called upon the services of former All Blacks Steve McDowall to be his assistant coach in the qualifyings for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. Romania qualified but disappointed at the finals, being unable to win a single match for the first time since 1995. His son

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

is also a professional rugby union player.

References

External links

Romeo Gontineac International Statistics

1973 births Living people Romanian rugby union players Romanian rugby union coaches Rugby union centres CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca (rugby union) players SWD Eagles players FC Grenoble players Section Paloise players Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne players Romania international rugby union players Romanian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Romania national rugby union team coaches {{romania-rugbyunion-bio-stub