Romania holds on to defeat a determined Canada in men's rugby test in Bucharest

Romania, surviving a late red card, hung on to defeat a determined Canada 35-27 in a men's international rugby test match Saturday.

The Canadian men, ranked 22nd in the world compared to No. 20 for Romania, put on a far better show than a week earlier in a 44-14 loss to No. 21 Chile, also at Stadionul Arcul de Triumf.

But Canada's effort fell short with several late attacks fizzling due to a handling error or penalty. It was a fifth straight defeat for Canada, which has won just two of its last 12 tests.

Captain Lucas Rumball and Sion Parry scored tries for Canada, which was also awarded a penalty try. Peter Nelson kicked two penalties and two conversions.

Ovidiu Neagu has two tries and Tevita Manumua, captain Cristi Chirica and Yanis Horvat added singles for Romania, which led 18-13 at the half. Alin Conache booted two penalties and two conversions.

"It was a real tough test. It was what we expected," said Canada's coach Kingsley Jones. "Proud of my players in terms of their application to a test match. A tough stadium, tough physicality, and I thought they did really well."

"Lots of learnings for us of course, things we can do better to close out test matches," he added.

It was the last test match of the year for Jones as he prepares his young side for World Cup qualifying, which starts next year via the Pacific Nations Cup. Canada finished the year with a 1-6-0 record.

Romania's first two tries were scored with Canada down a man after wing Andrew Coe was sin-binned.

And there was bad blood early in the second half with six-foot-six Canadian lock Izzak Kelly in the thick of it. The melee was triggered by Romania hooker Stefan Buruianas, who was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Parry.

It was the Romanians' eighth yellow card in their last three games.

Canada elected to go for a scrum rather than kick for points on the ensuing penalty deep in the Romania end. Rumball crashed over to cut the deficit to 25-20 in the 48th minute.

After a Romania try by Horvat, Parry's try in the 55th minute cut the Oaks' lead to 30-27.

Romania's discipline issues continued when Australian-born centre Jason Tomane was red-carded with 16 minutes remaining for a late, high tackle on Nelson. Neagu touched down in the corner in the 68th minute, upping the Oaks' lead to 35-27.

Romania had reinforced roster

Canada won 35-22 when the two teams met in July in Ottawa, which snapped a run of six Romanian victories over the Canadians. But Romania came into Saturday's match with a reinforced roster and 6-3-0 edge in the overall series.

Canada's two other victories were at the 1991 and '96 World Cups. Romania's win streak includes the biggest comeback in men's World Cup history when it scored 17 points in the final 28 minutes at the 2015 tournament to edge Canada 17-15.

Canada has lost all five meetings on Romanian soil.

Jones hoped for a better defensive effort Saturday after conceding seven tries in the loss to Chile, the first meeting between the two since October 2021 when the South Americans ended the Canada's qualification bid for the 2023 World Cup with a 54-46 aggregate victory in their two-legged series.

Romania, meanwhile, was coming off a 25-15 win over No. 18 Tonga.

The Canadian defence was solid to start. But the visitors were denied a try in the sixth minute when the television match official ruled Tongan-born wing Taliauli Sikuea had beaten Coe to a kick that crossed the Romanian try-line.

Canada went ahead 7-0 in the 14th minute when Scottish referee Sam Grove-White awarded a penalty try for an Romanian infraction as the Canadian maul headed for the try-line.

A pair of Romania penalty kicks cut the deficit to 7-6 before a Nelson penalty upped the Canada lead to 10-6.

Coe was sent to the sin bin in the 31st minute, paying the price for a string of Canadian offsides as Romania attacked the try-line following a line break by New Zealand-born fly half Hinckley Voavasa.

Romania wasted little time taking advantage, pulling ahead 18-10 on back-to-back tries by Manumua and Chirica. A 38th-minute Nelson penalty reduced the margin to 18-13.

Romania added to the lead early in the second half with a Neagu try in the 42nd minute.

Sam Miller, Jesse Kilgour and Rhys James, members of Rugby Canada's Pacific Pride development academy, earned their first Canada caps off the bench. Scrum half Brock Gallagher and lock James Stockwood made their first starts.

Saturday's game was for the new Cernavoda Cup, a trophy that will be contested every time the two teams meet. The trophy, awarded in collaboration with the Canadian Embassy in Romania, honours Romanian-Canadian co-operation in the nuclear energy sector.