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Romania vow to go out with a bang

Wednesday 28 September 2011, 7:36PM

By Rugby World Cup 2011

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PALMERSTON NORTH

<p>Romania are desperate to break their Rugby World Cup 2011 losing streak and finish on a high when they meet Georgia in their final Pool B match on Wednesday.</p> <p>The Oaks have already lost to Scotland, Argentina and England but this match against their European Nations Cup rivals, Georgia, is the one they have been targeting.</p> <p>&quot;It&#39;s the big finale for us,&quot; admitted Romania captain Marius Tincu, who is poised to earn his 50th cap as one of 10 changes to the Romanian line-up that went down 67-3 to England.</p> <p>The Oaks&#39; bid to finish with a flourish will see a reunion of 14 of the starting XV against Scotland, who led in the second half before losing 34-24.</p> <p>Injured scrum half&nbsp;Lucian Mihai Sirbu will miss the showdown at Arena Manawatu with a knee injury.</p> <p>Oaks vice-captain Cristian Petre said the Romanians are struggling to shake off their big defeat by fourth-ranked England.</p> <p>&quot;It will not be easy to recover after the match against England, but this one is our last match, a man&#39;s match, of life and death,&quot; said Petre, on the brink of his 86th cap.</p> <p><strong>&#39;We will sacrifice ourselves&#39;</strong></p> <p>Squad leader and veteran hooker Tincu indicated the three-day recovery period between Romania&#39;s match against England and their final match has been a strain on the Oaks&#39; resources.</p> <p>&quot;You are asking a lot from the guys,&quot; he said. &quot;That is why I say it will be a man&#39;s match. We will sacrifice ourselves.&quot;</p> <p>Tincu, 33, believes success against Georgia will salvage his side&#39;s RWC 2011 campaign.</p> <p>&quot;We need to finish with a victory,&quot; he said. &quot;If we lose, we will be bitter.&quot;</p> <p>Romania have won eight of their last 14 clashes against Georgia, but the Lelos triumphed 18-11 in March to take the European Nations Cup grand slam.</p> <p>Boasting 551 caps between them, Georgia have also named their most experienced RWC XV, with coach Richie Dixon saying: &quot;We&#39;re going to stick with the guys who have played very well for us, so there aren&#39;t a lot of changes.&quot;</p> <p>Georgia have made three changes to the line-up who started against England, with David Zirakashvili, Giorgi Chkhaidze and Lasha Khmaladze moving from the bench to the starting XV.</p> <p>Their only previous RWC victory was their 30-0 win against Namibia in 2007 after making their first appearance at RWC 2003.</p> <p><strong>&#39;We are ready for them&#39;</strong></p> <p>&quot;We&#39;ve trained really hard for this match,&quot; said captain Irakli Abuseridze. &quot;We know they&#39;ve trained really hard for us as well, they rested their starting XV for this match. But we&#39;re ready for them.&quot;</p> <p>Georgia are also buoyed by the fact they have won eight of their past 10 matches, losing only against England and Scotland at RWC 2011.</p> <p>Both teams concede the match will be won or lost in the front row.</p> <p>&quot;It will be very physical, not really strategic,&quot; said Romania captain Tincu. &quot;We will do our best against them. We have to win our trial by combat.&quot;</p> <p>Georgia coach Dixon conceded it will come down to how well his scrum matches Romania&#39;s.</p> <p>&quot;We know it will be a strong forward battle,&quot; he said.</p> <p>&quot;Our packs are very similar and it all depends on when we get our ball and how we use those opportunities.&quot;</p>