Romania conclude their three-match tour of South America on Friday. The tour finale sees the Stejarii facing the Argentina XV in Buenos Aires. Romania is in need of a win to avoid a winless tour. The Stejarii fell to record defeats to Chile in Santiago and Uruguay in Montevideo. Both Chile and Uruguay are preparing for Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers while Romania has already booked a spot. The Argentina XV consists of fringe players and two men capped by Los Pumas.
FORM GUIDE  |
Current World Ranking: N/A
2025-07-05 – Brazil 45-17 Argentina XV (Jacareí, BR)
Current World Ranking: 21 (62.67 points)
2025-07-12 – Uruguay 70-8 Romania (Montevideo, UY)
2025-07-05 – Chile 40-16 Romania (Santiago, CL)
2025-03-16 – Portugal 7-21 Romania (Algés, PT)
2025-03-02 – Georgia 43-5 Romania (Tbilisi, GE)
2025-02-15 – Romania 6-34 Portugal (Botoșani, RO)
2025-02-08 – Belgium 14-31 Romania (Mons, BE)
2025-01-31 – Romania 48-10 Germany (Bucharest, RO)
STARTING LINEUP CHANGES (from  vs ) |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Thomas Gallo | Matías Medrano |
| 4 | Lautaro Simes | Franco Carrera |
| 6 | Facundo Cardozo | Nicolás D’Amorim |
| 7 | Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel | Aitor Bildosola |
| 8 | Genaro Fissore | Juan CruzPérez Rachel |
| 9 | Alejo Sugasti | Mateo Albanese |
| 11 | Julián Quetglas | Franco Rosetto |
| 15 | Tobias Wade | Julián Quetglas |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Vasile Balan | Thomas Crețu |
| 4 | Yanis Horvat | Adrian Moțoc |
| 5 | Adrian Moțoc | Andrei Mahu |
| 6 | Florian Roșu | Cristi Boboc |
| 7 | Matthew Tweddle | Nicolaas Immelman |
| 8 | Vlad Neculau | Damian Strătilă |
| 9 | Toma Mîrzac | Vlăduț Bocăneț |
| 10 | Mihai Mureșan | Ștefan Cojocariu |
| 13 | Sebastien Tofan | Antonio Mitrea |
| 14 | David Rafael Florea Jilăveanu | Alexandru Bucur |
| 15 | Antonio Mitrea | Alexandru Harasim |
| + UNCAPPED |
– 23 of the Argentina XV’s 25 players are uncapped.
– Sebastien Tofan; Cristian Nedelcu
| + MOST CAPS |
– T Gallo (37); R Martínez (3)
– A Moțoc (36), F Tangimana (34), I Hartig (26), F Roșu (22)
| + NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– F Carrera (LO), A Bildosola (FL), N D’Amorim (FL), M Albanese (SH), M Soler (FB)
– M Iftimiciuc (LO), C Chirica (FL), A Mitu (N8), G Rupanu (SH), G Pop (FH), H Vaovasa (FH), T Gontineac (CE), J Tomane (CE)
- The Argentina XV is the Argentine next-of-XV behind Los Pumas. Caps are not awarded.
- The non-capped status enables more replacements than in test matches. Both teams mutually agreed on ten replacements.
- Argentina XV backs Bautista Farisé and Tomás Di Biase helped Peãnrol to the 2025 SRA title.
- Selknam and Yacare are also represented as Agustín Toth and Julián Quetglas will both face Romania.
- The Argentina XV’s starting loose head prop and replacement loose head prop both play in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
- The Argentina XV previously played under other names but was rebranded to be the Argentina XV in 2016.
- The most recent test match between Argentina and Romania was won by Argentina in Bucharest in 2021.
- Coaches Nicolás Vergallo (Argentina XV) and David Gérard (Romania) both played for Toulouse. Vergallo was Argentina’s starting scrum-half at Rugby World Cup 2011. Gérard played for France in 1999.
- The match will feature a 100% neutral refereeing team from Uruguay, Brazil and Chile.
Felipe Contepomi has not shied away from capping Super Rugby Americas players. This very fact means that all of the Argentina XV players have legitimate reasons to play their very best rugby as he and his staff will be watching. Romania’s tour has not brought results in terms of wins; however, the tour is the start of Romania building to Rugby World Cup 2027. The Argentina XV are favorites to win in Buenos Aires.
ARGENTINA XV
1 Thomas Gallo (Benetton, IT), 2 Juan Manuel Vivas (Tarucas), 3 Francisco Moreno (Tarucas), 4 Lautaro Simes (Dogos), 5. Federico Albrisi (Dogos), 6 Facundo Cardozo (Dogos), 7 Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel – capt. (Pampas), 8. Genaro Fissore (Dogos), 9. Alejo Sugasti (Los Pumas 7’s), 10. Bautista Farisé (Peñarol), 11. Julián Quetglas (Yacare, PY), 12 Tomás Medina (Tarucas), 13 Leonardo Gea Salim (Dogos), 14 Lautaro Cipriani (Dogos), 15 Tobías Wade (Los Pumas 7’s)
Replacements: 16 Juan Ignacio Greising Revol (Dogos), 17 Rodrigo Martínez (Dragons, GB-CYM), 18 Bautista Bosch (Pampas), 19 Agustín Toth (Selknam, CL), 20 Agustín Sarelli (Tarucas), 21 Tomás Di Biase (Peñarol, UY), 22 Juan Bautista Baronio (Dogos), 23 Benjamín Belaga (CASI), 24 Juan Penoucos (Pampas), 25 Bruno Heit (Pampas)
ROMANIA
1 Iulian Hartig (Dinamo), 2 Tudor Butnariu (Timișoara), 3 Vasile Balan (Steaua), 4 Yanis Horvat (Albi, FR), 5 Adrian Moțoc (Biarritz, FR), 6 Florian Roșu (Știința Baia Mare), 7 Matthew Tweddle (Steaua), 8 Vlad Neculau – capt. (Timișoara), 9 Toma Mîrzac (Știința Baia Mare), 10 Mihai Mureșan (Știința Baia Mare), 11 Taliauli Sikuea (Știința Baia Mare), 12 Fonovai Tangimana (Dinamo), 13 Sebastien Tofan (Perpignan Espoirs, FR), 14 David Rafael Florea Jilăveanu (Steaua), 15 Antonio Mitrea (Aurillac Espoirs, FR)
Replacements: 16. Lukas Mitu (Castres, FR), 17 Ciprian Chiriac (Timișoara), 18 Gheorghe Gajion (Mont de Marsan, FR), 19 Damian Strătilă (Steaua), 20 Cristi Boboc (Steaua București) 21 Vlăduț Bocăneț (Știința Baia Mare), 22 Cristian Nedelcu (Steaua), 23 Romeo Corrado-Ștețco (Timișoara), 24 Andrei Mahu (Massy, FR), 25 Thomas Crețu (Dax, FR)
Date: Friday, July 18
Kickoff: 3pm (AR); 9pm (RO)
Venue: Club Atlético de San Isidro, Buenos Aires (AR)
Broadcasts: ESPN, Disney +
Weather Forecast: Light Rain, 13°C, Wind 23 km/h
Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Cauã Ricardo (Brazil); Frank Méndez (Chile)
| HISTORY vs (2015-2024) |
2016-06-18 – Romania 20-8 Argentina (Bucharest, RO)
2015-06-21 – Romania 23-0 Argentina XV (Bucharest, RO)
| HEAD TO HEAD vs (2015-2025) |
ROMANIA Wins 2
ARGENTINA Wins 0
