According to the Tournament Director, Beth Coalter, one of the most pleasing aspects of the fourth IRB Nations Cup is the enhancement of the playing standards of the participating Unions, which in turn has led to high quality, entertaining matches.
“The inclusion of Scotland A and France A has definitely raised the playing standard of the competition which in the end has contributed to the quality of the tournament,” she said during preparations for the final match day on Sunday 21 June. “But the quality displayed by the three tier two unions - Russia, Uruguay and Romania - is indeed very pleasing. This is without doubt the most balanced and spectacular tournament so far.”
Of the three developing Unions, Romania has seemingly turned a corner in their quest for respectability. Managed by a new coaching team led by former IRB Development Manager Robert Antonin, which includes France’s Serge Lairle and Olivier Niers, New Zealand’s Steve MacDowall and former centre Romeo Gontineac, the Romanians impressed the pundits with their assertiveness as well as know-how in their match against France A in round two.
In the revival of the Romanian team alternatively captained by their outstanding forwards Alex Manta and Marius Tincu, the role played by Iulian Dumitras, recast at fly half after several seasons at full back tends to be overlooked.
Dumitras, who had a storming game against the French, probably his best in a Romanian jersey, scored a try and a long range penalty that signalled the beginning of the Romanian fightback from 17-0 down. “He had an outstanding game,” observed team manager Robert Antonin.
In the genes
Young Dumitras grew up and developed in the shadow of his father Harry Dumitras, a former captain of Romania and a Barbarian. This, as Harry observed, must have been a bit of a mixed blessing for the youngster.
“I know that Iulian had to deal with my shadow as captain of a successful Romanian team, who played on equal terms with the great teams of the world, including France, Scotland, England, Ireland and New Zealand,” Harry Dumitras said this week.
“But although we talked rugby a lot, I have not moulded him into an alter-ego of mine, in fact I did the opposite; encouraging him to develop individuality and a strong personality. The only thing that I always told him is to enjoy the game, draw as much pleasure out of it as possible.
“This is what we have in common, the love for the game and the enjoyment it has been giving us. This was showed in the match against France A, when he played in his favourite position and performed at a level that really pleased me. I have never experienced such emotions since my playing days. I am a happy rugby dad,” added Dumitras Senior, who watched the match on TV in France, where he lives.
Technically, Iulian Dumitras who was born on June 22, 1982 will still be 26 on the day of the match against Italy A, the battle for the bronze medal on the last day of the tournament. After several years in the Romanian jersey, miscast at full back, a position that he competently filled for his professional club in Pau, he blossomed in his role as fly half against the French, the position he has started his professional career for Tarbes, in France, some five years ago.
From goalie to fly half
The young Dumitras’ flirtation with the round ball, when he joined a soccer club in Ittenheim, a village near Strasbourg, defined his rugby career.
“I learned the basics at Pau Ecole (School) de Rugby where I started during my dad’s playing days there, but when we moved to Strasbourg, I did not have a club to join,” he recounted this week in a break from match preparations. “With both dad and mum working hard to make a living, there was hardly a rugby club nearby, which I could join.
“So I joined the village soccer team as goalkeeper. I kept asking Harry to come to see me, but he, obviously not very happy with the chosen sport, as well as very busy, kept postponing it, until one day he turned up. I was very excited, but we got thrashed 12-0. At the end, we looked at each other, he asked me, “what’s next son”, and I said I would like to go back to rugby.
“By that time dad started coaching a team in Pontarlier in the second division and got me to play there. I was about 18 when I started playing full back and gained a fair amount of experience. After about a year I decided that I needed to learn a bit about myself and expand my experience and horizons so I took my boots and left.
Dinner to Dax
“I went to La Teste, near Bordeaux, where I had a friend and started training with them. I was about to sign a contract with the club, when the phone rang and Robert Antonin, alerted by my father, invited me to dinner. That night changed the course of my life.
“He advised me not to sign with La Teste, explaining that I need to complete my rugby education. He rang instead his friend Claude Dourthe, the former Dax and France centre and told him about me. I joined the Dax Academy rugby run by Dourthe, but unlike La Teste they did not offer any money – only accommodation and food. I thought about it, and decided that money at that stage was not a priority, which now in retrospect I think it was a very big decision for a teenager.
“That was the turning point in my life and career. Dax is such a strong rugby club, a genuine rugby community who cares for you and tries to help you improve, both as a player and a person. Very soon I started to play fly half and had among my mentors Jeannot Lescarboura, the great French fly half, who advised me and taught me the finer points of the game. Like me he was very big and advised me about the specific game of that type of fly half. After a year I joined Tarbes, who were looking for a fly half and played there for a year.
“I changed to the Section Paloise (Pau) after a year in my desire to play Top 16 rugby, but Pau were looking for a big kicking full back, not a fly half, so I signed saying that I had played full back when I was a kid for Pontarlier. The option of playing fly half did not materialise, though my father kept telling me that I was more suitable for the fly half position. But, you know, I did not pay much attention to what he said, though in retrospect now I have to admit that he was right – nothing new, the old story between father and son.”
“When I rejoined the Romanian team after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, I had a chat with Romeo Gontineac, and told him that I would like to have a go at fly half. I am delighted that the coaches went for it and we had such a good game against the French. I owe this to them, to my dad who kept faith with me, to the coaches who gave me a chance, to my mentor Robert Antonin, but, more than anything else to my team mates that made it a day to remember for all of us. In fairness, to be outside half behind our forwards who played their socks off is like sitting in an armchair.
“Shame we did not win.”
