Russia’s Rugby administration has formally requested that the World Rugby investigate the eligibility of a Tongan born Romanian Rugby player, Sione Faka’osilea. Russia lost a World Cup qualifying match to Romania earlier this month, a game in which Faka’osilea was fielded.

The formal request follows complaints by Russian media outlets alleging that Sione Fakaosilea was ineligible to represent Romania because he had previously played for the Tonga Rugby Sevens team.

The Romanian Rugby Federation released a statement this week stating: "We consider it absolutely unacceptable to blame anyone before a thorough investigation by the competent authorities of Rugby Europe and World Rugby, therefore we will send relevant inquiries to these organisations.”

Faka’osilea plays in the centre position and debuted for Romania last year, making 13 appearances.