Ovidiu Tonița (born 6 August 1980) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played 73 times for the national team between 2000 and 2016. A former

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

and presently a flanker and number 8. He played the majority of his career for

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, France' ...

. He is noted for his size, which is considered unusual for his position on the field.Ovidiu Tonița
a
Planet Rugby
; retrieved September 19, 2007
a
Planet Rugby
; retrieved September 19, 2007 Radu Constantin
"Ovidiu Tonița: 'Autobuzul din Carpaţi' "
a
Rugby.ro
retrieved September 19, 2007 His supporters are known to have compared him to the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n footballer

John Eales John Anthony Eales (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups. Early life E ...

, and he is often seen as Romania's key player.

Career

Born in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

, Tonița worked as a soft drinks distributor for

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

from age 15, and played rugby for local club Rulmentul Bârlad. He moved to France, where he played in the

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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

, originally 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 1953–54 French Rugby Union Championship, 1954 and runner-up in 1992–93 French Rugby Union Championshi ...

(1999–2002), and later for

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

(2002–2004). In 1999, at the age of 19, he made his international debut as a reserve for the Romania national team, being one of the youngest players at the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

.Romania squad for World Cup 2003
a
Rugby.ro
retrieved September 19, 2007 His

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debut was against Morocco national team in 2000. He won his first 14

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as a lock, and established himself as a flanker after moving to Perpignan. He was included in Romania's squad at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

. He was injured for three months in early 2005 and took part in the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

, where he was Romania's vice-captain. During the latter event, as Romania prepared to face the

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Tonița was deemed "perhaps (Romania's) one world-class player" in a ''

Scotsman Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (o ...

'' article. An analysis of the Romanian squad, published by ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', noted that Tonița "is a class act in the scrum", while arguing that, given Romania's poor results: "The sad thing for him is that he is playing with the wrong generation of players." He also competed at the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Rugby World Cups. In a testimony to both the length of his top-level career and his country's lack of World Cup success, Tonița set a new record at the 2015 World Cup by participating in his 12th losing World Cup match, surpassing the previous record of 11 held by his countryman Romeo Gontineac and

Namibian This is a demography of the population of Namibia including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population Census results As r ...

Hugo Horn. Note that six other players, apart from those named in the main text, reached 11 losing matches in the 2015 World Cup.

Honours

;Club ;Grenoble *

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

**Runner-up: 2001–02 ;Perpignan *

** Champion: 2009 ** Runner-up: 2010 ;International ;Romania *

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 (fie ...

: 2004–06

References

External links

* * * * *
Ovidiu Tonița
at Rugbyrama.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonita, Ovidiu 1980 births Living people Biarritz Olympique players FC Grenoble Rugby players USA Perpignan players Provence Rugby players CSM București (rugby union) players Romanian rugby union players Romania international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union number eights Sportspeople from Bârlad Romanian expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century Romanian sportsmen US Carcassonne players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players