Articolele de pe acest blog sunt în limba română, în majoritatea lor covârșitoare, mai exact, cu o singură excepție: interviuri cu invitați străini. Primul a fost Tony Adams, căpitanul de legendă al lui Arsenal, pe care l-am întâlnit în 2013 la Milano. Astăzi este un al doilea invitat care vine din Regatul Unit al Marii Britanii și anume Rob Moffat, care de un an de zile este antrenorul de treisferturi al naționalei de rugby a României. Rob Moffat este scoțian, a fost antrenor principal al naționalei de rugby în 7 a Scoției, dar și antrenor principal al naționalei U20 la Cupa Mondială din 2009.
Variana în limba română a interviului este disponibilă pe site-ul Club 16.
Mr. Rob Moffat, you are part of the Romanian national team for almost one year. How do you see the Romanian experience so far?
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Romania. The boys are easy to coach as they have a great attitude to the game. There is a lot of potential in the country.
How important was the fact that Lynn Howells was head coach of Romanian national team in accepting the offer from the Romanian federation?
Lynn being coach was the reason I came to Romania. I had enjoyed working with him with Edinburgh.
How long will it take for the backs to play a similar role as the scrum in Romania’s game?
A long time! Longer than I will be with Romania. We are developing our game & have good backs but we also need to respect the strength of Romanian rugby.
The progress of backs is obvious, are the Romanians progressing fast or the input of players that were naturalised has a serious contribution to it?
I think our backs are developing well but we still have a lot of work to do. The influence of players from outside Romania have had a very positive impact on our back play. We do, however, also have talented Romanian backs that we have to develop.
Are there any plans to develop the backs in juvenile rugby and at club level? As it obvious that you don’t have enough time to work with them at national team.
There is good development happening with the young players. This is very important for the future of Romanian rugby. We are trying to help & support the players, coaches&the development programmes that are already in place for the young players.
What are the chances to have Romanian backs playing in France or England in the following years?
This is a difficult one. We have players playing in France & England (mostly forwards) – this undoubtedly has helped them progress as players. A similar situation may happen with some backs – in the professional game, players move to further their rugby experience & make more money. What we have to do is work as hard as we can to develop our Romanian players – they have a lot of ability & it is our duty to make sure that we maximise this potential.
Considering the fact that you are Scottish and backs coach, and the 7’s rugby was invented in Scotland, what do the Romanian players miss in order to count in Sevens too?
I am Scottish and my Club is Melrose, where the game of 7’s was invented so Sevens is very close to my heart. Most countries find it hard to find a suitable place for 7’s – Romania is no different. Two things are certain – 1) 7’s is now a big game world wide with it being an Olympic sport and 2) 7’s develops the main basic skills of the game. As a development tool 7’s would improve the fitness and skills of the Romanian players.
Romanian fans are waiting for a long time now for test matches with the teams from Tier 1. And why not an opening from the Six Nations. Do you think these measures are feasible in the near future? Will it help the Romanian rugby to progress?
It is strange that we have not played a Tier 1 nation since the last World Cup. It is imperative that this changes in the future. Romania need to play Tier 1 countries regularly to develop their game. It is clear with countries like Japan & Argentina – the progress they have made due to the exposure of a higher level of rugby on a regular basis, is clear to see.
Ți-a plăcut? Dă mai departe!
