The 2025 test campaign comes to a close for the USA when they touch down in Bucharest on Saturday. It’s been a frustrating year for the Eagles. Though they improved on the poor showing in Scotland, they let an early lead against Georgia go to waste and ultimately came up 13 points short. Romania meanwhile were sloppy but had too much muscle up front for the Canadians to contend with.
| FORM GUIDE |
Current World Ranking: 21 (63.02 points)
2025-11-08 – Romania 31, Canada 21 (Bucharest)
2025-07-18 – Argentina XV 52, Romania 14 (Buenos Aires)
2025-07-12 – Uruguay 70, Romania 8 (Montevideo)
2025-07-05 – Chile 40, Romania 16 (Santiago)
2025-03-16 – Portugal 7, Romania 21 (Oeiras)
Current World Ranking: 16 (67.40 points)
2025-11-08 – Georgia 43, USA 30 (Batumi)
2025-11-01 – Scotland 85, USA 0 (Edinburgh)
2025-09-14 – USA 29, Samoa 13 (Denver)
2025-09-06 – USA 21, Japan 47 (Sacramento)
2025-08-22 – Canada 34, USA 20 (Calgary)
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Stefan Buruiana | Ovidiu Cojocaru |
| 3 | Thomas Cretu | Cosmin Manole |
| 8 | Adrian Mitu | Kemal Altinok |
| 13 | Mihai Graure | Atila Septar |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Tonga Kofe | Pono Davis |
| 7 | Cory Daniel | Makeen Alikhan |
| NOTES |
- David Gérard has made four changes to his Romania lineup, three enforced… captain Ovidiu Cojocaru retired after the win over Canada, while Cosmin Manole was injured and Atila Septar returned to his French club… Stefan Buruiana and Thomas Cretu come into the front row with Mihai Graure taking Septar’s place in the midfield… highly-rated youngster Adrian Mitu is recalled in the back row
- Andrei Mahu captains Romania for the first time following Cojocaru’s retirement… the 34-year-old – who stands 6’9″ (2.05m) – has been a towering presence for the Oaks since changing his allegiance from his home country of Moldova two years ago
- the Oaks feature one new cap this week… Fijian loosehead prop Joji Sikote is among the reserves
- Scott Lawrence has made just two changes to his run-on side, with Leicester tighthead Tonga Kofe getting the nod at No3 and Cory Daniel recalled at openside flanker… skipper Jason Damm slides from lock to the back of the scrum with Marno Redelinghuys shifted from the flank to the second row
| QUOTES |
Jason Damm (Captain)
(on loss to Georgia) “We knew the match would be physical and a battle within the forwards. I’m really happy with the effort the fellas put in on our side, but obviously Georgia stepped up in the second half and really pushed us to the limit.”
| PREDICTION |
The cool but sunny weather is good news for the Eagles, though the heavy Pacific influence in Romania’s backline might also benefit. Curiously the Eagles have left their Top 14 regular Nafi Ma’afu on the bench, which this week is a more conventional 6/2 split. The Oaks have also opted for six forwards in reserve, with one of them usual top lock Marius Antonescu. While Romania are at home, the Eagles have historically fared well in Bucharest. Expect a very close match with the favorites tag based on current world rankings. USA are slight favorites in Bucharest.
| TEAMS |
ROMANIA
1 Alexandru Savin, 2 Stefan Buruiana, 3 Thomas Cretu, 4 Nicolaas Immelman, 5 Andrei Mahu (capt.), 6 Cristi Boboc, 7 Cristi Chirica, 8 Adrian Mitu, 9 Alin Conache, 10 Hinckley Vaovasa, 11 Tevita Manumua, 12 Jason Tomane, 13 Mihai Graure, 14 Iliesa Tiqe, 15 Gabriel Pop
Replacements: 16 Tudor Butnariu, 17 Joji Sikote, 18 Vasile Balan, 19 Marius Antonescu, 20 Dragos Ser, 21 Matthew Tweddle, 22 Gabriel Rupanu, 23 Nicolas Onutu
USA
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 2 Kaleb Geiger, 3 Tonga Kofe, 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Marno Redelinghuys, 6 Paddy Ryan, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Jason Damm (capt.), 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 Luke Carty, 11 Rufus McLean, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dom Besag, 14 Mark O’Keeffe, 15 Toby Fricker
Replacements: 16 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 17 Payton Telea-Ilalio, 18 Maliu Niuafe, 19 Nafi Ma’afu, 20 Vili Helu, 21 Makeen Alikhan, 22 Mitch Wilson, 23 Michael Baska
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, November 15
Venue: Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest
Kickoff: 17:00 local (07:00 Pacific, 10:00 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: sunny, 50°F (10°C), wind SW 6-9 mph (10-15 km/h)
Broadcasts: Paramount+ (USA), TVR Sport (Romania), DAZN (Canada), RugbyPass TV
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistants: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia) & Peter Martin (Ireland)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (10): USA 7, Romania 3
2024-07-05 – USA 20, Romania 22 (Chicago)
2023-08-05 – Romania 17, USA 31 (Bucharest)
2018-11-17 – Romania 5, USA 31 (Bucharest)
2016-11-13 – Romania 23, USA 10 (Bucharest)
2014-11-08 – Romania 17, USA 27 (Bucharest)
2012-11-26 – Romania 3, USA 34 (Bucharest)
2005-05-29 – USA 28, Romania 22 (Tokyo)
1999-10-09 – Romania 27, USA 25 (Dublin)
1988-09-17 – Romania 7, USA 17 (Moscow)
1924-05-11 – Romania 0, USA 37 (Paris)
The post November Internationals 2025 – Romania vs USA – ARN Guide appeared first on Americas Rugby News.
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