When it comes to rugby they are not necessarily that fussed about supporting underdogs in Leicester, but when they see those underdogs reverting to the maul to fight their way back into a match that is a different matter.

The manner of the score that sparked Romania’s late comeback win was, then a vital element as their pack powered over from a close range lineout to get the scoreboard moving in their favour and definitely shift the momentum at the Leicester City Stadium.

They had fallen three scores behind to the sort of scores Pro12 audiences have been used to for some time, well taken tries by former Glasgow Warriors wing DTH van der Merwe and Ospreys counterpart Jeff Hassler, allied to a penalty from Gordon McRorie and the conversion of Hassler’s early second half score by Nathan Hirayama which had made it 15-0.

Ex-Edinburgh head coach Lynn Howells, who is now in charge of Romania, had said his men must stick to their game and having played second fiddle to the higher tempo play of their opponents to that point they seized their chance to impose themselves when the pace of Canadian play dropped, as it had to.

That maul got them back into the match, skipper Mihai Macovei carrying the ball over and they were already very much on top when Jebb Sinclair was sin-binned for collapsing another maul illegally.

Their pressure paid once more when Macovei broke off the back of a disintegrating close range scrum and, stopped short by two men a yard short, threw out a out a huge, ball-filled paw to thump it onto the line, Florin Vlaicu again converting.

The centre had missed a couple of long range first half penalty attempts but when yet another maul earned a penalty, 40 metres out wide on the left, he commendably held himself together to clinch what had at one stage looked an unlikely win.

In the day’s other match Fiji finally got the victory their contribution to the tournament had fully merited, as they registered the bonus point by half-time and rattled in seven tries against a game Uruguayan side that has been done no favours it the scheduling but showed considerable pride in registering two tries.