World Rugby Nations Cup – Uruguay vs Romania – ARN Guide

Uruguay play host to Romania in a round two fixture of the 2026 World Rugby Nations Cup. The contest sees two teams who were beaten in one round clashing at the home of the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay (URU) in Montevideo.

The rivalry has grown exponentially to be one of the most common Tier 2 fixtures between teams from different or mixed regions. So much so, that so far in the 2020s, Uruguay vs Romania is the most common intercontinental test match for both Los Teros and Stejarii.

Saturday’s World Rugby Nations Cup match between the teams in Montevideo will be the seventh meeting this decade. This is notably high and none of the matches have been at Rugby World Cups nor in Rugby World Cup Qualifying.

Historically, fixtures like Romania vs Canada or Uruguay vs USA / Canada happened more often. However, looking strictly at this current decade, those rivalries have slowed down. Romania have only played Canada twice so far this decade (2024 and 2025). Their 7 games against Uruguay make it by far their most frequent opponent outside of Europe

Uruguay’s historic regional qualifiers against the USA and Canada have been reduced due to changes in Rugby World Cup qualification pathways, leaving their 7 matches against Romania as their highest cross-continental tally compared to having faced Canada (2), USA (2), Portugal (1), Spain (1) thus far in the 2020s.

The change in Uruguay’s opposition outside of South America has taken place alongside the move to High Performance investments at the Estadio Charrúa and professionalism. This has seen Uruguay turn-around results against Romania.

Historically, Romania dominated the fixture through sheer physical size and an elite scrumming tradition. However, Los Teros have flipped the dynamic to secure a 5-match winning streak, capped by a historic 70–8 blowout in July 2025 and a 31–21 victory in Bucharest.

Uruguay has weaponized a massive advantage in ball-in-play speed and physical conditioning. Romania’s traditionally massive forward pack historically bullied Uruguay. Today, Los Teros use high-tempo phase play and quick ball recycling to exhaust Romania’s heavy forwards.

 

URUGUAY – WORLD RANKING 16 (68.46)

DATE
COMPETITION
OPPONENT
RESULT
SCORE
VENUE

Jul 4, 2026
World Rugby Nations Cup
Georgia
Loss
34–41
Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo

 

ROMANIA – WORLD RANKING 22 (60.08)

DATE
COMPETITION
OPPONENT
RESULT
SCORE
VENUE

Jul 4, 2026
WR Nations Cup
Chile
Loss
31–48
Estadio Nacional, Santiago

Mar 15, 2026
Rugby Europe Championship
Spain
Loss
23–29
Estadio Butarque, Leganés

Mar 8, 2026
Rugby Europe Championship
Georgia
Loss
30–53
Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi

Feb 22, 2026
Rugby Europe Championship
Portugal
Loss
7–44
Estadio do Jamor, Lisbon

Feb 15, 2026
Rugby Europe Championship
Belgium
Win
23–6
Stadionul Emil Alexandrescu, Iași

Feb 8, 2026
Rugby Europe Championship
Germany
Loss
24–30
Fritz-Grunebaum Sportpark, Heidelberg

 

IN
OUT

14
Francisco González Capdevila
Juan González

15
Juan González
Francisco González Capdevila

IN
OUT

1
Iulian Hartig
Alexandru Savin

3
Cosmin Manole
Jean-Pierre Smith

4
Logan Weidner
Nicolaas Immenman

6
Nicolaas Immelman
Kemal Altinok

9
Alin Conache
Gabriel Rupanu

10
Hinckley Vaovasa
Daniel Plai

13
Nicolas Onuțu
Dylan Schwartz

14
Tevita Manumua
Nicolas Onuțu

 

– Iacopo Bianchi.

 

 MOST CAPS

– M Sanguinetti (98), I Dotti (73), M Diana (54), M Ardao (39), L Bianchi (27), F Aliaga (23), JM Alonso (20); F Arcos Pérez (20)

– A Savin (43), M Simionescu (41), G Rupanu (32), D Plai (31), N Onuțu (29), I Hartig (25), J Tomane (22).

 

 LEAST CAPS

– G Kigel (1), F Landauer (1), L Porcelli (1), I Rodríguez Bosch (1), A Ten Hoever (1), A Vidal (1), J Cotarmanac’h (3), F González Capdevila (3), M Rosmarino (3), J Myszka (7), M Perillo (9), J Suárez (10)

– I Bianchi (0), JP Smith (1), K Murray (1), L Weidner (3), I Tique (1), M Graure (6)

 

 NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– F Suárez (LH), G Kessler (HK), G Pujadas (HK), D Arbelo (TH), I Péculo (TH), M Leindekar (LO), S Civetta (FL), C Deus (FL), S Álvarez (SH), S Arata (SH), F Etcheverry (FH), A Vilaseca (CE), B Basso (WI), B Amaya (FB)

– Thomas Crețu (TH), Gheorghe Gajion (TH) Marius Iftimiciuc (LO), Adrian Motoc (LO), Taylor Gontineac (CE), A Septar (CE), Toni Maftei (WI).

 

Uruguay is on a five match winning-streak against Romania.
The teams met in Montevideo last July with Uruguay winning by a record margin.
They met again in Bucharest in November with Los Teros winning 31-12.
Rodolfo Ambrosio has named the same XV to start who did so against Georgia. The only difference is Francisco González Capdevilia and Juan González switch positions.
Romania’s changes include a start for Canadian Logan Weidner in the second-row.
Uruguayan players Germán Kigel, Francisco Landauer, Lucas Porcelli, Ignacio Rodríguez Bosch, Arturo Ten Hoever, and Alfonso Vidal all debuted against Georgia. Ten Hoever is from France.
Jean–Pierre Smith and Keanan Murray debuted for Romania against Chile. Both are from South Africa.
 Iacopo Bianchi will earn his test debut for Romania.
Andrei Mahu has 12 caps specifically for Romania, but holds 36 total international caps when including his 24 appearances for Moldova.
Veteran Teros prop, Mateo Sanguinetti will earn his 99th cap.
Uruguay’s 23 features 20 players born in Uruguay, 1 in Argentina and 2 in France. Francisco González Capdevilia is from Argentina while Jean Cotarmanac’h and Arturo Ten Hoever are from France. All three men qualify for Uruguay via a parent.
12 of Romania’s 23 players were born in Romania. They are Iulian Hartig, Ștefan Marko Buruiană, Cosmin Manole, Cristi Boboc, Adrian Mitu, Alin Conache, Marius Simionescu, Tudor Butnariu, Alexandru Savin, Vlad Neculau, Gabriel Rupanu and Mihai Graure.
Romania’s 11 other players are from Australia, Canada, Fiji, France, Italy, New Zealand, Moldova, South Africa and Tonga.

 

ROMANIA
1 Iulian Hartig, 2 Ștefan Marko Buruiană, 3 Cosmin Manole, 4 Logan Weidner, 5 Andrei Mahu, 6 Nicolaas Immelman 7 Cristi Boboc (capt.), 8 Adrian Mitu, 9 Alin Conache, 10 Hinckley Vaovasa, 11 Iliesa Tiqe, 12 Jason Tomane, 13 Nicolas Onuțu, 14 Tevita Manumua, 15 Marius Simionescu

Replacements: 16 Tudor Butnariu, 17 Alexandru Savin 18 Jean-Pierre Smith, 19 Vlad Neculau, 20 Keanan Murray, 21 Iacopo Bianchi, 22 Gabriel Rupanu, 23 Mihai Graure

 

Ambrosio’s decision to retain the same line-up signifies a team following a game-plan. Indeed, Los Teros rely on a game plan built around elite breakdown competition, tactical kicking, and an expansive backline running game. They were able to compete against Georgia in many areas with structural tactical elements designed to disrupt their higher-ranked opponent. The Stejarii rely on a traditional, heavyweight forward-based game plan centered around set-piece dominance, brutal scrummaging, and a punishing driving maul. Cold conditions await the teams at the Estadio Charrúa. Uruguay are favorites to win in Montevideo.

 

Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Date: Saturday, July 11
Kick-Off: 2:00pm (Uruguay); 8:00pm (Romania)
Weather: Light Rain Showers; 12°C (54°F) Wind SE 4 mph
Broadcast: Disney + (Uruguay); Rugby Pass

 

Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
Assistants: Angus Mabey (New Zealand); Cauã Ricardo Santos (Brazil)
TMO: Dan Jones (England)

 

HISTORY  vs (2008-2026) 

2025-11-22 – Romania 21-31 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2025-07-12 – Uruguay 70-08 Romania (Montevideo, UY)
2024-11-23 – Romania 21-23 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2022-11-13 – Romania 16-21 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2022-07-17 – Uruguay 26-20 Romania (Montevideo, UY)
2022-07-17 – Uruguay 22-30 Romania (Montevideo, UY)
2021-11-07 –  Romania 29-14 Uruguay (Verona, IT)
2018-11-24 – Romania 20-27 Uruguay (Baia Mare, RO)
2016-11-06 – Romania 36-10 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2016-06-13 – Romania 40-0 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2014-06-14 – Romania 34-16 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2012-06-08 – Romania 29-9 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2010-11-27 – Romania 39-12 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2010-11-13 – Uruguay 21-21 Romania (Montevideo, UY)
2009-06-12 – Romania 17-11 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)
2008-06-11 – Romania 10-6 Uruguay (Bucharest, RO)

 

HEAD TO HEAD  vs (2008-2026)

Wins 9
Wins 6
DRAW 1

photo credit: Dragos Pascaneanu / FRR