 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Haiducii (The Outlaws) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Moldovan Rugby Federation | ||
| Head coach | Sergiu Motoc | ||
| Captain | Alexandru Mutean | ||
| Most caps | Andrei Romanov (46) | ||
| Top scorer | Alexandru Mutean (500) | ||
| Top try scorer | Oleg Prepelița (27) | ||
| Home stadium | Complexul Sportiv Raional Orhei | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 57 (as of 16 January 2023) | ||
| Highest | 25 (2014) | ||
| Lowest | 59 (2020) | ||
| First international | |||
 Moldova 22–6  Lithuania(Moldova; 10 October 1991) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Moldova 58–8  Malta(Moldova; 18 November 2000) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Sweden 80–6 Moldova(Sweden; 20 October 2018) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 0 | ||
| Website | www.rugby.md | ||
The Moldova national rugby union team, nicknamed Haiducii, are a Rugby Europe national team that play in the Conference 2 North competition and are administered by the Moldovan Rugby Federation. They are yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
History
Moldova played their first international on October 10, 1991 against Lithuania. Moldova won the match, 22 points to six. The next year they played against Bulgaria, which Moldova won, 42 points to three. Moldova played Hungary in 1995, which they won, by three points, 17 to 14.
They played Georgia, who defeated them 47 to five. They then played Ukraine and Latvia and Bulgaria soon after.
Moldova played twice in 1997, defeating Norway and losing to Croatia. They won a number of fixtures in 2000. They played the Netherlands the following year. The national rugby team was designated by the members of Moldova's Sports Press Association as the best Moldovan team in 2004. Following this, they played in qualifying tournaments for the 2007 Rugby World Cup European qualifiers. Moldova were grouped in Pool B of the second round, and they won two of their four matches, which saw them finish second in their pool behind Germany, and thus move onto round three and enter Pool A in round 3.
However, their road to the World Cup was ended when a respectful 2nd place above Poland, Netherlands and Andorra was not enough to proceed to round 4.
Popularity
The popularity of rugby in Moldova is growing rapidly, with well over 1,250 fans regularly turning up to their home matches in the European Nations Cup. Since 2004, the number of Moldovan rugby players has more than doubled, due to the national team's growing international reputation.
Notable players
Moldovan international Alexei Cotruţa was the top try-scorer in the Russian Professional Rugby League in 2006, scoring 16 tries in 14 matches for Moscow-area side VVA-Podmoskovye.
During March 2011, Vadim Cobîlaş signed for Aviva Premiership side, Sale Sharks. Shortly after, his younger brother Maxim Cobîlaş also signed for Aviva Premiership side, Sale Sharks making the two the first Moldovan players to sign for a professional English team. More recently, props Dmitri Arhip and Gheorghe Gajion have signed for two Welsh regional sides, Cardiff Blues and Ospreys.
On the 23rd of August 2018, Cristian Ojovan another prop made his debut for D2 side Aurillacois. After his impressive performances at Aurillacois, George Ojovan signed with Top 14 champions Clermont Auvergne during October 2019.
Current squad
This is Moldova`s current squad for the 2022-23 for Rugby Europe Conference 2 North.
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandru Mutean | Hooker | 2 February 2004 | 50 |  Confey College |
| Marius Cardasim | Hooker | 30 September 2001 | 2 | RC Sporting ASEM |
| Valeriu Belous | Prop | 28 November 2000 | 2 | RC Ciorescu |
| Vlad Braniște | Prop | 13 March 1990 | 2 | RC Sergus Soroca |
| Maxim Cobîlaș | Prop | 12 August 1986 | 42 |  VVA-Podmoskovie |
| Alexandru Colev | Prop | 2 February 1997 | 10 | Unattached |
| Ruslan Dorogan | Prop | 4 October 1993 | 5 | Clonakilty RFC |
| Andrei Lungu | Prop | 28 November 1995 | 7 | Kavallieri RFC |
| Tudor Cojocaru | Lock | 13 September 2000 | 4 | RC Sporting ASEM |
| Andrei Mahu | Lock | 3 September 1991 | 24 |  London Irish |
| Andrei Romanov | Lock | 10 December 1984 | 46 | Unattached |
| Dorin Boțan | Flanker | 9 February 1996 | 6 | Unattached |
| Cristin Buzenco | Flanker | 19 May 1993 | 2 | CSR Sporting |
| Petru Crețu | Flanker | 20 August 1995 | 3 | LIMPS |
| Igor Orghianu | Flanker | 31 October 1991 | 6 | RC Sporting ASEM |
| Sergiu Budaian | Number 8 | 22 September 1989 | 9 | CR UTM |
| Grigore Pahom | Scrum-half | 22 September 1999 | 2 |  Unione Rugbistica Anconitana |
| Vadim Preguza | Scrum-half | 26 November 1993 | 14 | RC Sporting ASEM |
| Ion Puică | Scrum-half | 21 February 1987 | 3 | CUS Perugia Rugby |
| Dumitru Bețliu | Fly-half | 25 February 2000 | 1 | RC Sporting ASEM |
| Mihai Golubenco (c) | Fly-half | 21 November 1994 | 20 | Unattached |
| Alexandru Matveev | Fly-half | 2 June 1989 | 3 | RC Sporting ASEM |
| Alexandru Bulgac | Centre | 14 August 1994 | 1 | Unattached |
| Ion Bușilă | Centre | 2 June 1986 | 4 | CSR Lupii Albi |
| Igor Mișin | Centre | 29 October 1989 | 9 | CR UTM |
| Ion Dinu | Wing | 27 December 1989 | 2 | RC Ciorescu |
| Mihail Boian | Wing | 28 November 1997 | 9 | Unattached |
| Ion Constantin | Wing | 13 January 1997 | 8 | RC Ciorescu |
| Adrian Adam | Fullback | 31 May 1995 | 9 | Unattached |
| Sandu Gritenco | Fullback | 28 November 2001 | 1 | RC Ciorescu |
| Alexei Isaac | Fullback | 8 November 2000 | 2 | RC Ciorescu |