Ireland have defeated Romania 45 – 17 in their Pool A match in front of a capacity crowd at Central Coast Stadium, Gosford.
After being met by a very spirited Romanian side the Irish have taken the top spot in Pool A thanks to their bonus point which they earned with their five tries.
Romania made a very promising start with Ionut Tofan showing plenty of creativity to give his backs space. However the Irish class was there when needed through captain Keith Wood, blockbusting centre Brian O’Driscoll and the accurate kicking of fly half David Humphreys.
Their five tries came from a double to Dennis Hickie, Shane Horgan, Keith Wood, and Victor Costello with Humphreys landing three conversions and four penalty goals. Ronan O’Gara also got his name on the score sheet with a conversion.
Romania competes
However they didn’t have it all their own way, with Romania competing until the end. Gabriel Brezoianu became the hero when he scored their opening try for RWC 2003. After chasing a chip kick through, Brezoianu soccered the ball ahead.
Then with the winger set to score, Irish fly half David Humphreys was judged to have pushed Brezoianu in the back and a penalty try was awarded. Tofan made no mistake with the conversion.
Running with a strong breeze to his back Irish fly half David Humphreys opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a penalty goal to put Ireland ahead 3-0. At 11 minutes the Romanians were penalised for coming in from the side and Humphreys landed his second penalty goal.
The first try for Ireland came when Shane Horgan scored under the posts after Girvan Dempsey made the initial break. The conversion took the lead to 16-0.
Inspired by skipper
After enjoying a glut of possession the Irish scored through their hooker and captain Keith Wood. The veteran charged onto the ball from 20 metres and crossed under the posts for a memorable try. With Humphreys landing his fifth goal, the Irish led 23-0.
Though trailing, the Romanians continued to attack with confidence and courage using the ball whenever possible.
Minutes after Brezoinau scored Romania came painfully close to scoring again when an attempted field goal hit the posts and Gontineac was stopped inches from the line. The ensuing penalty saw the Romanians leave with three points for their efforts.
The resurgence was halted when Australian born Irish flanker Keith Gleeson put Girvan Dempsey into space and his inside ball put Dennis Hickie over for his first try of the tournament. The Irish ahead 31-10.
Costello crashes over
A simple try to Victor Costello was scored when he picked up the ball from the scrum base and crashed over from short range, and easy conversion put the Irish in front 38-10.
With the game won, Eddie O’Sullivan decided not to risk Keith Wood and replaced the captain with Shane Byrne.
With the clock counting down Valentin Maftei also got his own RWC highlight when he chased through a kick to score, the crowd erupting when replacement Iulian Andrei converted.
Ireland will play their next game against Namibia next Sunday 19 October at Aussie Stadium while Romania will look forward to their clash with hosts Australia.
Ireland 45
Tries: Hickie 2, Horgan, Wood and Costello.
Con: Humphreys 3, O’Gara
Pen: Humphreys 4
defeated
Romania 17
Tries: Brezioanu, Maftei
Con: Tofan, Andrei
Pen: Tofan