The Moldova national rugby union team, nicknamed Haiducii, are a

Rugby Europe Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby (the sport's global governing body). However, it ...

national team that play in the Conference 2 North competition and are administered by the Moldovan Rugby Federation. They are yet to qualify for the

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 ...

History

Moldova played their first international on October 10, 1991 against Lithuania. Moldova won the match, 22 points to six. The next year they played against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, which Moldova won, 42 points to three. Moldova played

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

in 1995, which they won, by three points, 17 to 14. They played

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, who defeated them 47 to five. They then played

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and Latvia and

soon after. Moldova played twice in 1997, defeating

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and losing to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. They won a number of fixtures in 2000. They played the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

the following year. The national rugby team was designated by the members of Moldova's Sports Press Association as the best Moldovan team in 2004. Following this, they played in qualifying tournaments for the 2007 Rugby World Cup European qualifiers. Moldova were grouped in Pool B of the second round, and they won two of their four matches, which saw them finish second in their pool behind

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and thus move onto round three and enter Pool A in round 3. However, their road to the World Cup was ended when a respectful 2nd place above Poland, Netherlands and Andorra was not enough to proceed to round 4.

Popularity

The popularity of rugby in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

is growing rapidly, with well over 1,250 fans regularly turning up to their home matches in the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

. Since 2004, the number of Moldovan rugby players has more than doubled, due to the national team's growing international reputation.

Notable players

Moldovan international Alexei Cotruţa was the top try-scorer in the Russian Professional Rugby League in 2006, scoring 16 tries in 14 matches for Moscow-area side VVA-Podmoskovye. During March 2011,

Vadim Cobîlaş Vadim (Cyrillic: Вадим) is a Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovene masculine given name derived either from the Persian ''badian'' (anise or aniseed), or from the Ruthenian word ''volod'' (russian: волод), meaning ''to rule'' or ''vaditi ...

signed for Aviva Premiership side, Sale Sharks. Shortly after, his younger brother Maxim Cobîlaş also signed for Aviva Premiership side, Sale Sharks making the two the first Moldovan players to sign for a professional English team. More recently, props

Dmitri Arhip Dmitri Arhip (born 12 November 1988) is a Moldovan rugby union player who plays for the Cardiff Rugby at Tighthead Prop. He is also a Moldovan international. Arhip made his debut for the Ospreys in 2012 having previously played for CS Dinamo Bu ...

and

Gheorghe Gajion Gheorghe Gajion (born 13 November 1992) affectionately known by fans as ''The Beast From The East'' is a Moldovan rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys and Bridgend Ravens as a prop. He is also a Moldovan international. Gajion joined the ...

have signed for two Welsh regional sides, Cardiff Blues and Ospreys. On the 23rd of August 2018, Cristian Ojovan another prop made his debut for D2 side Aurillacois. After his impressive performances at Aurillacois, George Ojovan signed with

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

champions Clermont Auvergne during October 2019.

Current squad

This is Moldova`s current squad for the 2022-23 for Rugby Europe Conference 2 North.

External links

www.rugby.mdwww.goldteam.mdwww.facebook.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldova National Rugby Union Team European national rugby union teams Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union) Rugby union in Moldova