Rugby World Cup
Romania captain Mihail Macovei dedicates win to bereaved coach
Martyn Thomas
October 6, 2015
Romania earn last-minute victory over Canada

LEICESTER CITY STADIUM, Leicester -- Mihail Macovei has dedicated Romania's dramatic Rugby World Cup victory over Canada to the team's fans and forwards coach, Marius Tincu, whose mother recently passed away.

The captain scored two second-half tries, while centre Florin Vlaicu struck a nerve-jangling late penalty to help Romania recover from 15-0 down to record their first win of the tournament.

Lynn Howell's men now go into their final Pool D game against Italy with hopes of pipping the Azzurri to third and automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

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"In our country rugby is a small family and we always enjoy having these fans even if they are just a small bunch," he said. "We dedicate this victory to them and also Marius Tincu for staying with us because three days ago his mother died."

Macovei added: "All of our thoughts and hearts were with him."

Meanwhile, coach Lynn Howells - who admitted he would allow his players a controlled amount of beer to celebrate - revealed the late comeback would ensure he made a happy phone call back to Romania.

He said: "We said we'd play this game for the player who went home injured, (Ovidiu) Tonita and I'm now very happy that we can phone him and say we won the game for him."

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