Romania call up Ion as replacement for injured Balan
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Your support makes all the difference.The Romania prop Petru Balan has withdrawn from the World Cup with a knee injury. He will be replaced by Paulica Ion, who is due to join the team at their training camp today.
The Portugal flanker Juan Severino Somoza has received a four-week ban for head-butting the lock Nathan Hines during the 56-10 defeat to Scotland on Sunday. The decision means Somoza's World Cup is effectively over, although he has 48 hours in which to make an appeal. Somoza, who is free to play rugby again on 8 October, will therefore miss tomorrow's Pool C meeting against New Zealand in Lyons.
The coach Tomaz Morais has made nine changes to his starting XV. The highly rated centre Miguel Portela is recalled, while Pedro Carvalho, the wing who scored Portugal's try against the Scots, is retained.
Namibia have made three changes, one positional, to their starting line-up for Sunday's Pool D game with France in Toulouse. The openside Michael MacKenzie replaces the injured Heino Senekal.
MacKenzie's call-up results in a back-row reshuffle, with Jacques Nieuwenhuis moving from blindside flanker to No 8 and Jacques Burger shifting in the opposite direction.
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