Ireland v Romania predictions, tips, odds and free bets (Rugby World Cup - Pool D - 27.9.2015)

Wednesday, 14 July 2021 17:20
Written by Simon Bettarini

Ireland have had a soft start to their 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign. Next up for the Irish are group outsiders Romania who can be considered another heavy underdog. This article contains our IRELAND v ROMANIA betting preview with predictions, match tips, enhanced odds, starting XVs, exclusive free bets and bonuses without deposit!

IRELAND v ROMANIA BETTING PREVIEW Scotland will be full of confidence following their 45-10 convincing win over Japan and they are expected to make it two from two when they take on ROMANIA. hey ran in five tries to earn the bonus point, all of which came in the second half after they went into the break just 12-7 in front.

Scotland coach Cotter had made wholesale changes to the side that beat Japan with only five players retaining their place in the initial starting line-up, as he looks to keep his squad fresh with the prospect of a clash against South Africa looming next weekend. Mark Bennett, Grant Gilchrist, John Hardie, Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg are the only players that will retain their spot.

ROMANIA were beaten 25-16 by Samoa in their opening match of the tournament. They were competitive, but made critical mistakes at crucial times. ROMANIA need to make the match very physical encounter after a four-day turnaround as their opponents could suffer this physical approach.

ROMANIA coach Mike Tolkin had made just one change to the team that came up short against Samoa in Brighton, as Phil Thiel graduates from the bench to take Zach Fenoglio's place at hooker. The only other change is positional with Blaine Scully moving back to wing and Chris Wyles back at fullback. That might be an effort to uses Wyles's kicking ability and to have Scully's handling on the wing. On the bench John Quill has found space while Brett Thompson dropping out.

This will be the 5th official meeting between the two sides, with the Scots winning the four previous encounters with an aggregate score of 181-50. The most recent encounter was a 24-6 win in Houston last summer

Recent results:

2013: Scotland won 24-6, Houston
2003: Scotland won 39-15, Brisbane (WC pool match)
2002: Scotland won 65-23, San Francisco
2000: Scotland won 53-6, Edinburgh

IRELAND v ROMANIA STARTING XVs Ireland: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7 Chris Henry, 6 Jordi Murphy, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Paul O'Connell, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Rob Kearney.

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Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Adrian Apostol, 13 Paula Kinikinilau, 12 Csaba Gal, 11 Ionut Botezatu, 10 Michael Wiring, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Daniel Carpo, 7 Mihai Macovei (captain), 6 Viorel Lucaci, 5 Ovidiu Tonita, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Andrei Radoi, 1 Andrei Ursache.

Replacements: 16 Otar Turashvili, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Johannes Van Heerden, 20 Stelian Burcea, 21 Florin Surugiu, 22 Florin Ionita, 23 Florin Vlaicu.

IRELAND v ROMANIA BEST ODDS