Ionuț Balaban (born 23 May 1996) is a Romanian rugby union football player. He plays as a centre for professional Fédérale 1 club Sporting Club Appaméen.
| Full name | Ionuț Balaban | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 23 May 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bârlad, Romania[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 89 kg (14 st 0 lb; 196 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Club career
editIonuț Balaban started playing rugby in 2010 at CSS Bârlad, a school-based club under the guidance of coaches Ciprian Popa and Ioan Harnagea. He was selected for the senior team of the club making his debut in Divizia Națională, the second tier of the Romanian rugby league system. After some impressive performances, he was signed at the beginning of 2016 by Dinamo București. After two seasons with the Bucharest team, he transferred to Știința Baia Mare. In January 2020 he was signed by SuperLiga side Gloria Buzău.In July 2020 he was signed by SuperLiga team SCM Timișoara[2]
International career
editBalaban also played for the Romania national under-20 rugby union team and Romania national rugby sevens team.[3] Balaban is also selected for Romania's national team, the Oaks, making his international debut at the 2016 World Rugby Nations Cup in a match against the Welwitschias.He was the youngest rugby player in Romania to be selected for Romanian's national team, the Oaks[4][5]
References
edit- ^ www.graiul.ro (17 July 2018). "Ionuţ Balaban, transferat la Baia Mare".
- ^ www.monitoruldevaslui.ro (11 July 2018). "Ionut Balaban, al cincilea rugbist bârlădean la CSM Stiinta Baia Mare".
- ^ www.vremeanoua.ro (4 July 2019). "Bârlãdeanul Ionut Balaban, în lotul echipei nationale de rugby în 7".
- ^ en.espn.co.uk (9 June 2016). "Romania Rugby Union debuts".
- ^ ESPN (9 June 2016). "NATIONS CUP , Pool B - Bucharest, 9 June 2016, 20:00 local, 17:00 GMT".
External links
edit- Ionuț Balaban at ESPNscrum
- Ionuț Balaban at ItsRugby.co.uk
- Ionuț Balaban at Romanian Rugby SuperLiga (in Romanian)
- Ionuț Balaban at Gloria Buzău website (in Romanian)
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