Ovidiu Tonița (born 6 August 1980) is a Romanian former rugby union player who played 73 times for the national team between 2000 and 2016. A former lock and presently a flanker and number 8. He played the majority of his career for USA Perpignan. He is noted for his size, which is considered unusual for his position on the field.Ovidiu Tonița at Planet Rugby ; retrieved September 19, 2007Romania Country Profile at Planet Rugby ; retrieved September 19, 2007 Radu Constantin, "Ovidiu Tonița: 'Autobuzul din Carpaţi' " , at Rugby.ro; retrieved September 19, 2007 His supporters are known to have compared him to the Australian footballer John Eales, and he is often seen as Romania's key player."Prop Balan makes Romanian squad", at BBC Sport; retrieved September 19, 2007David Ferguson, "Party Time Is Over as Skipper Socol Vows to Avenge November Loss", in The Scotsman, September 18, 2007; retrieved September 19, 2007
Career Born in Bârlad, Tonița worked as a soft drinks distributor for The Coca-Cola Company from age 15, and played rugby for local club Rulmentul Bârlad. He moved to France, where he played in the Top 14, originally for FC Grenoble (1999–2002), and later for Biarritz Olympique (2002–2004). "Rugby: la fiche de Ovidiu Tonița", at L'Équipe; retrieved September 19, 2007
In 1999, at the age of 19, he made his international debut as a reserve for the Romania national team, being one of the youngest players at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.Romania squad for World Cup 2003 at Rugby.ro; retrieved September 19, 2007 His test debut was against Morocco national team in 2000. He won his first 14 caps as a lock, and established himself as a flanker after moving to Perpignan.
He was included in Romania's squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He was injured for three months in early 2005 , at Netsport.ro; retrieved September 19, 2007 and took part in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where he was Romania's vice-captain. During the latter event, as Romania prepared to face the Scotland, Tonița was deemed "perhaps (Romania's) one world-class player" in a Scotsman article.David Ferguson, "Sorin Ready to Soc It to the Scots at Murrayfield", in The Scotsman, September 14, 2007; retrieved September 19, 2007 An analysis of the Romanian squad, published by The West Australian, noted that Tonița "is a class act in the scrum", while arguing that, given Romania's poor results: "The sad thing for him is that he is playing with the wrong generation of players.""Rugby Union. Rugby World Cup 07. Pool C" , in The West Australian; retrieved September 19, 2007 He also competed at the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups. In a testimony to both the length of his top-level career and his country's lack of World Cup success, Tonița set a new record at the 2015 World Cup by participating in his 12th losing World Cup match, surpassing the previous record of 11 held by his countryman Romeo Gontineac and Namibian Hugo Horn. Note that six other players, apart from those named in the main text, reached 11 losing matches in the 2015 World Cup.
Honours Club Grenoble Pro D2 Runner-up: 2001–02
Perpignan Top 14 Champion: 2009 Runner-up: 2010
International Romania European Nations Cup: 2004–06
References
External links
Ovidiu Tonița at Rugbyrama.fr