IRELAND REMAIN 62-point favourites for their World Cup opener in Bordeaux this weekend. No one is giving Romania a chance.

They’re ranked 19th in the world and come into this game as massive underdogs after their poor performances in three warm-up defeats to the US, Georgia, and Italy.

With Andy Farrell now expected to name a very strong Ireland team for the Pool B clash, it could be a tough afternoon for the Romanians.

Still, Romania is a proud rugby nation. The Oaks have been to every World Cup so far and they’ve won six of their 28 games. They’ve never had more than one victory in a single tournament and it certainly looks like they’ll struggle to do it this year.

It has been pointed out that Romania benefited from Spain’s disqualification from this World Cup and while that did mean they went straight into the tournament, it’s quite likely the Oaks would have qualified anyway. With Romania bumped up, it was really Portugal who benefited most as they grabbed the last spot in a World Rugby repechage.

The Romanians had to deal with losing head coach Andy Robinson, formerly the England and Scotland boss, late last year when he resigned. His side had beaten Chile but lost to Uruguay and Samoa in the 2022 November Tests and Robinson said he felt he had “taken the Romanian team as far as I can.”

The man to step into the void was former Romania international out-half Eugen Apjok, who had enjoyed success as head coach of his hometown club Baia Mare in the Liga Națională de Rugby.

Apjok was new to the Test arena and so, it made sense to give him an experienced figure to lean on. World Rugby has supported and financed lots of moves in this regard, helping the less-heralded rugby nations to secure quality coaches as they aim to close the gap to the traditional powers. In this case, World Rugby helped Romania land a big fish.

It just so happened that in February of this year, Vern Cotter abruptly stepped down from his position as Fiji’s head coach for “personal reasons.”

In July, it was confirmed that Cotter will be joining the Blues of New Zealand on a two-year deal, so his next big job is already lined up.

Cotter resigned from his job with Fiji in February. Craig Watson / INPHO Craig Watson / INPHO / INPHO

In the meantime, Cotter was convinced to lend his know-how to the Romania side as they attempt to surprise a few people at this World Cup. The New Zealander visited the Oaks for some training sessions during the Rugby Europe Championship in February and March as the Romanians finished third behind Georgia and Portugal.

And Cotter is now in full-time with Romania as a consultant for this World Cup. By all accounts, he has made an immediate impact, pushing the players to believe that they can do something extraordinary.

Cotter’s vast experience means he’s worth listening to. After a  playing career that involved a decade in France, he got his coaching break with Bay of Plenty in 2000, staying for four years and convincing Joe Schmidt to join him in his last season there. 

It was a sliding doors moment in Schmidt’s life and he redirected from his work as a teacher. It was also the starting point of a coaching career that took in great success with Ireland and now sees Schmidt working as an assistant coach for the All Blacks.

“Vern encouraged me to take the role, and then looked at me directly and demanded my loyalty,” recalls Schmidt in his book ‘Ordinary Joe’.

“Usually we hesitate to be quite so direct. Not VC: he did direct without hesitation, and I liked the clarity of that.”

Schmidt remembers how they had a row on the training pitch during pre-season and when they patched it up, the future Ireland coach realised “I should have held my tongue.” They ended up winning a Ranfurly Shield together and Cotter was named NZRU coach of the year.

The pair went their separate ways the following year as they took on Super Rugby assistant roles, Cotter with the Crusaders and Schmidt with the Blues, but they weren’t apart for long.

Cotter was appointed head coach of Top 14 side Clermont in 2006 and again got to work convincing Schmidt to join him. He followed a year later and they had great success, steering the club to a first-ever French title in 2010 before Schmidt headed for Ireland.

Schmidt and Cotter during the Clermont years. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Naturally enough, some of Cotter’s methods rubbed off on Schmidt. From the Bay of Plenty days, Cotter insisted that everyone in the set-up greeted each other with a handshake at the start of every single day. Cotter had picked it up as a player in France. Schmidt loved the routine and it later became the norm in Leinster and Ireland.

Some of Cotter’s work in ‘themeing’ Clermont’s seasons also left an impression on Schmidt, particularly how Cotter inspired the players with the story of a historic battle that saw a united Gual force defeating Julius Caeser close to the city of Clermont-Ferrand. 

Cotter stayed with Clermont for another few years after Schmidt’s departure but there was no repeat of the Top 14 triumph.

He was appointed Scotland boss in 2014 and Cotter must still be frustrated about their controversial 2015 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Australia, when referee Craig Joubert penalised the Scots for a deliberate offside when replays appeared to show the ball had come off one of the Wallabies. They kicked the last-gasp winning penalty. Having blown the final whistle, Joubert ran for the tunnel as the boos rang out.

Cotter had a win rate of 53%, the best ever for a Scotland boss at that stage, but he left in 2017 when the Scottish Rugby Union decided not to renew his contract. Gregor Townsend had always been in line for the role.

Cotter went back to France for two years with Montpellier and then took on the Fiji job in 2020, leaving him set to lead them into this year’s World Cup. His exit appeared to end his chances of involvement in the tournament but now Romania are the ones benefitting from his expertise.

It will take Cotter’s best work to help them get close to Ireland, but his teams have always been sticky to play against.