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TOULOUSE - Romania head home from the World Cup with just one win to their name, but happy after consolidating their place at the top of the second-tier nations taking part in the 20-team tournament.
Romania suffered an 85-8 hammering from the All Blacks in their final game,
and also lost to Scotland (42-0) and Italy (24-18), but managed to scrape a 14-10 win over rival European minnows Portugal.
"We've given a satisfying account of ourselves," said outgoing Romania coach Daniel Santamans.
"Along with Georgia, we're the first of the teams of our level (five points each). Japan and the United States are working hard but they're behind us."
The Frenchman said that it was not reality to expect his team to compete at the same level as top teams in the World Cup.
"I don't think we can compete with teams that play in a different league. The players in the Romanian championship have qualities but the competition is the equivalent to the French fourth division.
"All second-tier nations are handicapped by this," he said. "We have to do like Italy or Argentina and put players in the Top 14 (French first division)."
Santamans and manager Robert Antonin, also a Frenchman, finish with the national team after three years in charge but the duo were confident that Romanian rugby could grow.
"We're at the end of our contract," Santamans said.
"We're handing over the reins. I know the Romanian federation is well placed and is working hard with the help of the IRB. I have confidence in it."
Antonin added: "We have a lot of hope. We had five young backs on the field against New Zealand and it's a great experience for them ahead of World Cup in 2011.
"But Romania is at a crossroads. We have some strong players, but they are a bit older, and might not be around come 2011.
"We have some young players coming through but they don't compete at a high level.
"That's why we hope the World Cup will stay for 20 teams, so that we can progress," he said in reference to suggestions that the next World Cup be reduced from the current 20 to 16.
But it is a moot question when Romania will regain the position it enjoyed in the 1980s when it was funded largely by the state.
That purple patch included a record 15-0 defeat of France at Bucharest in 1980, a draw with Ireland, and two wins apiece over Scotland and Wales, with the second Welsh win in 1988 coming in Cardiff.
But political upheaval in the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused by the collapse of Nicolae Ceausecu's communist regime led to Romania's inability to mount a serious threat to the sport's leading nations.
Despite beating France 12-6 on home soil in 1990, Romanian rugby suffered thereafter and has been in freefall ever since, notably after the advent of professionalism following the 1995 World Cup.
Two leading clubs, Dinamo Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest, which represented the police and army respectively, had their state funding severely curtailed.
Several leading rugby players also lost their lives in 1989 revolution, notably national captain and army officer Florica Murariu, shot dead at a roadblock.
Professionalism saw dozens of players head overseas, mainly France, to ply their trade, but the team hit an all-time low when it was thrashed 134-0 by England in 2001.
With French help, the decline of Romanian rugby was halted.
Despite an average showing in the 2003 World Cup, Romania scored a 25-24 win over Italy in the following year and also won the 2005-6 European Nations Cup, a qualifier for this World Cup.
- AFP