Romania beat the USA for only the second time ever, and the first time since 1999, Saturday in Bucharest.

The Mighty Oaks controlled much of territory and possession, especially in the first half, and scored two early tries that, with a conversion and penalty from center Florin Vlaicu, made it 12-0. Vlaicu added another penalty to give his side a 15-0 lead.

The USA team continued to try to play a high-paced attack, but they repeatedly made critical errors. Most notably, they lost the ball in contact several times, and also found themselves pushed into touch when they tried to go wide. The Eagle kicking game continued to suffer, as they didn't get enough distance on their clearance kicks, and spent much of the first half in their own end.

Penalties, also, hurt the Americans, and in fact helped set up the early tries.

Late in the first half the Eagles had a promising attack out of their own 22. But one last offload from Andrew Durutalo was intercepted, and the Romanians went right back on the offensive. USA prop Chris Baumann made a crucial tackle, but eventually the Oaks got the ball wide to flanker Viorel Lucaci, who absorbed Blaine Scully's hit and stayed infield to dive over in the corner.

Down 20-0 at halftime, the Eagles mounted one of their better offensive periods, and from a penalty they opted for the lineout and tried to maul it over. Romania stopped them, and stopped also a crashball to Bryce Campbell. But on third phase flyhalf Will Holder sold a dummy and went over. Holder hit the extras to make it 20-7. The Eagles remained on the front foot for a good portion of the second half, but still the little errors hurt them. They were right on the line after some good work from the backs and from Samu Manoa, but impatience from Joseph Taufete'e - he should have simply secured ball rather than try to pick up and diver over in traffic - led to the ball being held up in-goal, and a scrum.

The Eagles lost that scrum despite it being their put-in, and Romania cleared.

Eventually, the USA would get a penalty inside the Romanian 22. After some indecision, they opted for a kick at goal, and then tried to change their mind. Too late, once you opt for points you can't change your mind. The kick from Holder was good, but it still left the Americans needing two scores to tie it. In the end, they got none, as Vlaicu kicked a penalty to seal it 23-10.

For the USA team, they learned some crucial lessons, chief among them being, if you are under pressure in the scrum, you can't afford to drop the ball. The USA knock-ons were far too numerous and their scrum troubles too problematic. The American lineout, with Nick Civetta doing especially well there, functioned nicely, but Romania won their own lineouts most of the time and their maul was very effective.

Defensive, the USA team left some holes that were exploited early, but did better in the second half. But the defense also came up really fast, and on several occasions, notably Romania's second try, they were exposed by kicks over the top.

One other problem hurt the USA team, and that was the referee. New Zealander Paul Williams did a good job keeping the scrum from devolving into a series of penalties, and he worked very hard to be clear to both sides. But he also made some glaringly bad calls. 1. Thretton Palamo had the ball in contact, was stopped. His knee hit the ground (and thus making him tackled, and the Romanians should have let him fall), but the Romanian defenders were allowed to hold onto him and drag him into touch. 2. The USA was on the attack and had just had two penalties commited against them by Romania, but the play was called back for a late hit by Al McFarland. The replay showed that Romanian flyhalf Jody Rose ran directly into McFarland and then flopped when the two bumped into each other. This should have been a penalty for embellishing against Romania. 3. Several times Nate Augspurger tapped quickly when his team got a penalty, and Romania made no effort to retreat ten meters. They were never punished.

Having said that, the Eagles really have only themselves to blame for this loss. Keep ahold of the ball in contact and you win the game. Drop it, and it's all scrums, and Romania wins. Romania won.

USA 10
Tries: Holder
Convs: Holder
Pens: Holder

Romania 23
Tries: Van Heerden, Fercu, Lucaci
Convs: Vlaicu 2
Pens: Vlaicu 3

Romania and USA Lineups:

Romania: 1. Mihaita Lazar (Castres Olympique),  2. Eugen Capatana (Timisoara Saracens), 3. Alexandru Tarus (Beziers), 4. Johan Van Heerden (Stiinta Baia Mare), 5. Marius Antonescu (Tarbes), 6. Viorel Lucaci (CSA Steaua), 7. Vasile Rus (Timisoara Saracens), 8. Stelian Burcea (c) (Timisoara Saracens),9. Florin Surugiu (Steaua), 10. Jody Rose (Timisoara Saracens), 11.Ionut Dumitru (Steaua) 12. Florin Vlaicu (Steaua), 13.Jack Umaga (Timisoara Saracens),14. Tangimana Fonovai (Timisoara Saracens),15. Catalin Fercu (Timisoara Saracens) Reserves: 16. Andrei Radoi (Timisoara Saracens), 17. Ionel Badiu (Carcassonne), 18. Alexandru Gordas (CSA Steaua),19. Valentin Poparlan (Timisoara Saracens), 20.Andrei Gorcioaia (Valence d’Agen), 21. Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara Saracens), 22.Stephen Shennan (Timisoara Saracens), 23. Vladut Popa (Timisoara Saracens)

USA: 1. Titi Lamoistele, (Saracens, Eng.) 2. Joe Taufete’e (Belmont Shore) 3. Chris Baumann (Wellington Lions, NZ) 4. Nate Brakeley (NYAC) 5. Nick Civetta (Newcastle, Eng.) 6. Todd Clever (c) (Unattached) 7. Al McFarland (NYAC) 8. Andrew Durutalo (Sunwolves, Japan) 9. Nate Aupgsperger (Old Blue, NY) 10. Will Holder (All-Army) 11. Martin Iosefo (USA 7s Team) 12. Thretton Palemo (Bristol, Eng.) 13. Bryce Cambell (U. of Indiana) 14. Blaine Scully (Cardiff, Wales) 15. Maddison Hughes (USA 7s Team) Reserves: 16. Eric Fry (Newcastle, Eng.) 17. James Hilterbrand (Manly, Aus.) 18. Dino Waldron (Blackrock College, Ire) 19. Samu Manoa (Toulon, Fra.) 20. Langi Haupeakui (Glasgow Warriors, Scot.) 21. Stephen Tomasin (USA 7s Team) 22. Matai Leuta (USA 7s Team) 23. JP Eloff (Chicago Lions)