From Transylvania to the Wallabies: The wild journey of rugby’s ‘Romanian Rumbler’

Footballers rely on each other for a network of inside information. When considering a new club, they will commonly quiz a contact for mail on the coach, the culture of the club, or the best place to find a coffee and rent a house.

What’s less common is having to double-check with a friend about the prevalence of unusually pale neighbours with fangs and a fondness for nightlife.

But that’s how things unfolded for David Feliuai in 2019 when he was a young Brisbane footy player looking for a start in professional rugby and was approached by a club in Romania.

Sorry, it pays to be more specific here: the club in question was based in Baia Mare, a city in the region of Transylvania, and the striking part of the world where Irish author Bram Stoker set his novel Dracula.

“That was the first thing that came up when I searched it on Google; I saw a bunch of pictures of vampires and stuff like that,” Feliuai says.

“I had to message my mate Jason over there and see if it was true or not.”

David Feliuai poses during a Wallabies Portrait Session.

His friend Jason Tomane, brother of former Wallabies winger Joe, reassured Feliaui it was just castle tour fodder for backpackers, and the kid from Logan City ended up enjoying two years playing in Romania.

But after returning to Australia, signing for the Rebels in 2022 and impressing Joe Schmidt enough this year to selected for the Wallabies squad – at the ripe old age of 27 – Feliaui has been reflecting on his incredible and highly unusual rugby journey.

Where most of his Wallabies squad teammates followed a similar path of big rugby schools, junior rep teams and Super Rugby graduations in their early 20s, Feliuai has walked a very different path. His involved playing league as a kid, doing a two-year Mormon mission in Fiji, trialling for the NFL and a bruising education in pro rugby in the physical national competition in Romania.

“Nah man, I didn’t think I’d be in this environment [the Wallabies squad],” Feliuai says. “It was always a dream growing up.

David Feliuai (right) celebrates with Rebels teammates.

“I started going through my early 20s and started thinking it was out of reach, to be honest. I always look back on the journey, and it takes a bit to soak in and just think about how far I’ve come.”

Feliuai was born in Auckland but moved to Brisbane with his family when he was one. He played league throughout school and had talent, but after discovering rugby union at the Sunnybank club, he departed for his Mormon mission. There was no time to play competitive rugby, only some touch footy on a day off with other missionaries. But Feliuai’s talent was still there when he returned to Brisbane and Sunnybank.

He had a crack at making the NFL first when he took part in an NFL International Combine on the Gold Coast, seeking to follow the same pathway taken by Jordan Mailata.

“I think I was like 19, and I’d just come back from Fiji and not really conditioned or ready to do all that stuff,” Feliuai says. “I gave it a crack. A few NRL boys turned up there.”

Rugby was his favoured game by now, however, and after taking on an agent, the offer to sign a five-year deal for Stiinta Baia Mare in Romania soon landed in the inbox. They wanted Feliuai to sign for five years to qualify him for the Romanian national team, like his friend Tomane has recently done.

“I didn’t know really where Romania was,” he says. “I didn’t even know they played rugby over there, or any sport. But I ended up going and started to learn a bit about the team and about the comp. It was a massive culture shock. It was cold as hell over there. I think it was snowing when I got over there.”

The 15-team Liga Nationala de Rugby is a strong standard. It has run since 1913 and Romania has qualified for nine of the 11 Rugby World Cups. Prior to the fall of communism in eastern Europe, Romania recorded wins over France, Italy and Scotland.

The Wallabies in an alternate strip take on Romania at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

“The speed is not as fast, but it’s super physical,” he says. “They’re big boys over there; I think that’s why it’s physical because it’s not as fast. Everyone has the time to beat each other up.”

Used to training a few nights a week, Feliuai also had to adapt to full-time professionalism with Baia Mare, one of the dominant clubs in Romania. But after staying too long in Australia during the off-season, which would have reset his five-year qualification clock, Feliuai opted to leave the club and return to Sunnybank.

His outstanding Brisbane club form led to him being picked up by the Melbourne Rebels at the end of 2022, and in the past two seasons, the powerful centre began making waves at Super Rugby level as well.

Nicknamed the “Romanian Rumbler” by leading caller Sean Maloney, Feliuai even caught the eye of Schmidt with his abrasive, direct style.

“It was kind of like whispered to me that, you know, Joe wanted to just sit down and have a quick chat,” he says.

“I was just nervous and anxious and a lot of feelings going through my head.”

Feliuai was on Schmidt’s radar, but he put it out of his mind as the Rebels made their first finals and were then shut down. It was already a time of swirling emotions, but then the Wallabies squad was announced – and his name was on the list.

“My head has been spinning for the last couple of months, to be honest,” he says.

“Obviously, with what happened at Rebels, it’s really emotional. I am really grateful to the club for giving me this opportunity to be able to showcase my talents and hopefully make the Wallabies.”