At the start of the 2014–16 European Nations Cup First Division, Romania picked up a 37–10 win over Portugal and a 29–8 win over Spain. However, on 28 February 2015, Romania lost to Russia, 16–13, for the first time since 2009, before defeating newly promoted side Germany, 17–12. On 21 March 2015, Romania failed to beat Georgia for the seventh consecutive time, losing, 15–6. A promising performance in the 2015 World Rugby Nations Cup gave the side a glimmer of hope heading into the World Cup later in the year, with a 35–9 win over Spain, a 43–3 win over Namibia and finally a convincing 23–0 win over Argentina XV. Ahead of the World Cup, Romania failed to win a single warm-up match, drawing with Yorkshire Carnegie 10–all, losing to Edinburgh 31–16 and in their only test match, losing to Tonga 21–16. During the World Cup, Romania performed well against France, in what was Romania's first Tier 1 opponent since England during the 2011 Rugby World Cup almost exactly 4 years before the French game. France downed Romania, 38–11, before Romania faced another Tier 1 side, Ireland, losing, 44–10. They earned their first World Cup win since the 2007 tournament defeating Canada 17–15, despite being 8–0 down at half time; a 78th-minute penalty by Florin Vlaicu sealed the win. Despite scoring 3 tries, Romania were defeated by Italy 32–22 in their final match of the tournament, seeing them finish fourth in their group.