Rob Howley led Wales out on the occasion of his fiftieth cap under the Stadium's closed roof and with a perfect playing surface and windless atmosphere, Wales's running rugby began to make in-roads into the Romanian defence very quickly. Held back within their own 22m area Gareth Thomas very nearly had a brace himself in the opening six minutes only to be stifled at the last on each occasion. With pressure building, however, it only took a little longer for Wales to make the telling breakthrough; it was only a penalty, but enough for Wales to get moving, and also kicked with perfection from Stephen Jones from inside Wales's own half of the field.
Romania momentarily grew into the match and quickly cancelled out Jones's effort through a penalty of their own from Ionut Tofan which was quickly doubled moments later with a 40 metre kick.
Rhys Williams was introduced to the field shortly afterwards as Gavin Henson went off injured. Stephen Jones switched from centre to outside half, with Gareth Thomas moving to centre and Williams moving out to the wing. The injury galvanised Wales and with some clever approach work from the forwards Charvis fed Gareth Thomas who set Dafydd James up for his and Wales's first try of the match.
Tofan hit back again to reduce Wales's advantage between the sticks, but that was the end of Romania's scoring for the day. The home forwards grew in stature culminating in Chris Wyatt touching down on the half hour.
Romania's defence began to crumble and their error rate rocketed; within minutes Charvis had pounced on the opportunity to bag a try, Wales third, the home side now comfortably in control.
After the break Wales went up through the gears and a nineteen point haul in twenty minutes had all but sealed the spoils. Charvis and James completed braces and Allan Bateman bagged himself a try as Romania unravelled and with twenty minutes remaining Charvis put Wales past fifty points with his hat-trick. Barry Williams continued the great night for Wales's forwards with the eighth try for the home side. Fellow replacement Craig Quinnell continued that trend before Williams scored another.
Dafydd James completed his hat-trick in the dying embers of the match as Wales hit eleven tries. The match proved a much-needed warm-up for the delayed Wales Lloyds TSB Six Nations encounter against Ireland in October, and for Henry a much-needed return to winning ways after the ecstacy and then agony of the Lions Tour to Australia.
No. | Name | T | C | D | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | Kevin Morgan |
|
||||
14 | Gareth Thomas |
|
||||
13 | Allan Bateman |
1T |
|
|||
12 | Stephen Jones |
10C |
2P |
|
||
11 | Dafydd James |
3T |
|
|||
10 | Gavin Henson |
|
||||
9 | Rob Howley |
|
||||
1 | Iestyn Thomas |
|
||||
2 | Robin McBryde |
|
||||
3 | Dai Young |
|
||||
4 | Chris Wyatt |
1T |
|
|||
5 | Andy Moore |
|
||||
6 | Colin Charvis |
3T |
|
|||
7 | Geraint Lewis |
|
||||
8 | Gavin Thomas |
|
||||
16 | Rhys Williams |
|
||||
17 | Brett Sinkinson |
|
||||
18 | Barry Williams |
2T |
|
|||
19 | Dwayne Peel |
|
||||
20 | Craig Quinnell |
1T |
|
|||
21 | Chris Anthony |
|
||||
22 | Adrian Durston |
|
No. | Name | T | C | D | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | Gabriel Brezoianu |
|
||||
14 | Ion Teodorescu |
|
||||
13 | Nicolae Oprea |
|
||||
12 | Cristian Lupu |
|
||||
11 | Vasile Ghioc |
|
||||
10 | Ionut Tofan |
3P |
|
|||
9 | Lucian Sirbu |
|
||||
1 | Nicolae Dragos Dima |
|
||||
2 | Stefan Demici |
|
||||
3 | Marcel Socaciu |
|
||||
4 | Marius Dragomir |
|
||||
5 | Vasile Nedelcu |
|
||||
6 | Marius Bejan |
|
||||
7 | Alin Petrache |
|
||||
8 | Daniel Iacob |
|
||||
16 | Mihai Ciolacu |
|
||||
17 | Stefan Soare |
|
||||
18 | Petrisor Toderasc |
|
||||
19 | L. Dumitrescu |
|
||||
20 |
|
|||||
21 |
|
|||||
22 |
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Aus Teams Wales v Australia Opposition Australia (H) Opposition Aus (H) 21-29
HT 13-22
Opposition Australia Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 17:15 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Aus Form W W L L W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Georgia Teams Wales v Georgia Opposition Georgia (H) Opposition Georgia (H) 13-6
HT 10-3
Opposition Georgia Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:30 Referee Mathieu Raynal Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Georgia Form L L W L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v NZ Teams Wales v New Zealand Opposition New Zealand (H) Opposition NZ (H) 18-33
HT 11-12
Opposition New Zealand Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 17:15 Referee Wayne Barnes Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W NZ Form W W L D W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v South Africa Teams Wales v South Africa Opposition South Africa (H) Opposition South Africa (H) 24-22
HT 21-10
Opposition South Africa Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:30 Referee Jerome Garces Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W South Africa Form W L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Sco Teams Wales v Scotland Opposition Scotland (H) Opposition Sco (H) 34-7
HT 14-0
Opposition Scotland Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:15 Referee Pascal Gauzere Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Sco Form L W W L W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Eng v Wal Teams England v Wales Opposition England (A) Opposition Eng (A) 12-6
HT 12-3
Opposition England Venue Twickenham Stadium Time KO 16:45 Referee Jerome Garces Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Eng Form W W L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Ire v Wal Teams Ireland v Wales Opposition Ireland (A) Opposition Ire (A) 37-27
HT 15-13
Opposition Ireland Venue Aviva Stadium Time KO 14:15 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ire Form W W W W W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Ita Teams Wales v Italy Opposition Italy (H) Opposition Ita (H) 38-14
HT 17-7
Opposition Italy Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 15:00 Referee Jerome Garces Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ita Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Fra Teams Wales v France Opposition France (H) Opposition Fra (H) 14-13
HT 14-10
Opposition France Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 17:00 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Fra Form L L W W L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams South Africa v Wal Teams South Africa v Wales Opposition South Africa (N) Opposition South Africa (N) 02/06/18, 17:00
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Opposition South Africa Venue RFK Stadium Time KO 17:00 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W South Africa Form W L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Argentina v Wal Teams Argentina v Wales Opposition Argentina (A) Opposition Argentina (A) 09/06/18, TBC
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Opposition Argentina Venue Estadio del Bicentenario Time KO TBC Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Argentina Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Argentina v Wal Teams Argentina v Wales Opposition Argentina (A) Opposition Argentina (A) 16/06/18, TBC
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Opposition Argentina Venue Estadio Brigadier Lopez Time KO TBC Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Argentina Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Fra v Wal Teams France v Wales Opposition France (A) Opposition Fra (A) 01/02/19, 21:00
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Opposition France Venue Stade de France Time KO 21:00 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Fra Form L L W W L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Ita v Wal Teams Italy v Wales Opposition Italy (A) Opposition Ita (A) 09/02/19, 17:45
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Opposition Italy Venue Stadio Olimpico Time KO 17:45 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ita Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Eng Teams Wales v England Opposition England (H) Opposition Eng (H) 23/02/19, 16:45
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Opposition England Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 16:45 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Eng Form W W L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Sco v Wal Teams Scotland v Wales Opposition Scotland (A) Opposition Sco (A) 09/03/19, 14:15
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Opposition Scotland Venue BT Murrayfield Time KO 14:15 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Sco Form L W W L W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Ire Teams Wales v Ireland Opposition Ireland (H) Opposition Ire (H) 16/03/19, 14:45
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Opposition Ireland Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:45 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ire Form W W W W W |
Welsh Rugby Union | ||
Principality Stadium, Westgate Street, Cardiff CF10 1NS | ||
Telephone: 08442 491 999 | Fax: 029 2082 2474 | Email: info@wru.co.uk |