Florin Vlaicu

Florin Vlaicu (born 26 July 1986 in Bucharest) is a Romanian rugby union player. He plays as a fly half or centre for professional SuperLiga club Steaua București. He can also play as a fullback, thus being considered a utility back due to his versatility. He is Romania's all time leading point scorer and the most capped player.

Florin Vlaicu
Vlaicu featuring in a SuperLiga match in 2015
Full nameFlorian Adrian Vlaicu
Date of birth (1986-07-26) 26 July 1986
Place of birthBucharest, Romania
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight103 kg (16 st 3 lb; 227 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, centre, fullback
Current team Steaua București
Youth career
RC Flamingo București
RC Grivița București
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2005–11 Steaua București ()
2011 RCM Timișoara 0 (0)
2012–13 Steaua București ()
2014 Farul Constanța 18 (184)
2015 Olimpia București 10 (89)
2015–16 Calvisano 11 (78)
2016–18 Steaua București 21 (201)
2018–19 CSM București 13 (128)
2019–Present Steaua București 8 (42)
Correct as of 12 April 2020
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
2005–15 București Wolves 54 (306)
Correct as of 12 April 2020
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2006–Present Romania 124 (992)
Correct as of 12 April 2020

Club career
Florin in 2017 playing for Steaua hitting the ball with his trademark shot

Junior years

Vlaicu started playing rugby at RC Flamingo București, an amateur rugby club that recruited schoolboys suited for the sport. He then moved to local club RC Grivița București, where he continued his junior years.

Senior years

After finishing his junior career he joined local giants Steaua. After 8 seasons with Steaua, with a brief stint with RCM Timișoara for whom he played one single match in 2011, he was signed in early 2014 by RCJ Farul Constanța, where he played for the whole season. Beginning with 2015 a move to local team CSM Olimpia București followed. After an impressive performance at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Vlaicu was signed by Italian club Calvisano. After just one season with the Italians, Vlaicu returned to home soil, this time joining his former team Steaua. After 2 seasons we was once again signed by CSM București who had big ambitions at that moment in establishing a powerful side in order to capture both SuperLiga and Romanian Cup trophies. In 2019 his third spell with giants Steaua begun following the dissolution of his former club, CSM.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Provincial / State sides

Vlaicu was also selected between 2005 and 2015 for the State side assembled to play in the European Cups, namely București Wolves.

International career

Vlaicu made his international debut in 2006 as a substitute against Ukraine. He played for Romania in the IRB Nations Cup and in their 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying before appearing for them in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played two Tests at the World Cup as a substitute against both Scotland and the All Blacks, scoring a penalty against the latter. He also played at the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the 2015 Rugby World Cup. He reached his 100th cap on 11 March 2017 when Romania played against Belgium in Brussels.[7]

Records

Vlaicu set a series of records during his career. He is the most capped Romanian player at international level with 124 caps so far.[8] As of April 2020 he is the leading active top point scorer in international rugby, with 992 points (6th in the all-time rankings).[9] Florin is also the most prolific point scorer for Romania at the Rugby World Cup with 28 points scored over three tournaments.[10]

Honours
Steaua București
  • SuperLiga: 2006
  • Romanian Cup: 2006, 2007, 2019
RCM Timișoara
  • Romanian Cup: 2011[11]
CSM București
  • Romanian Cup: 2018

See also

References
  1. LA MULȚI ANI, FLORIN VLAICU!
  2. Rugby: Florin Vlaicu şi Otar Turaşvili, achiziţii de marcă ale RCJ Farul Constanţa
  3. Florin Vlaicu a semnat cu campioana Italiei. Cel mai bun marcator al României la Mondialele de rugby e mulțumit: „Pentru moment e ce mi-am dorit”. Italienii sunt extaziați: „Așteptăm de la el performanțe excelente”
  4. Rugbistul Florin Vlaicu a semnat cu CSM București
  5. RCM Timișoara i-a transferat pe Lucaci și Vlaicu de la Steaua
  6. Jucatorul etapei a VI-a din SuperLiga CEC Bank: Florin Vlaicu
  7. Rugby: Florin Vlaicu va bifa selecția cu numărul 100 în partida de sâmbătă cu Belgia, din REC
  8. Omul-record. Florin Vlaicu va deveni sâmbătă cel mai selecţionat jucător român din istorie
  9. Florin Vlaicu marcatorul nr 1 în activitate din rugby-ul internațional
  10. Romania Rugby World Cup Players Statistics
  11. RCM Timişoara a cîştigat Cupa României la rugby
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