The lack of a Romanian side surprises me too, but given how much the Romanian Union has spent on rebuilding their national stadium, and also renting massive stadiums to host matches behind closed doors or to crowds of less that 3,000 (even after building work on the new stadium was completed), it wouldn't surprise me if they simply did not have the money for a professional franchise.
Russian sides are already professional. When Wasps signed Vladislav Korshunov and Victor Gresev in 2012, they both took pay cuts to join Wasps!
German Rugby was financed by Hans-Peter Wild, the Capri Sun owner. He had a falling out with the German Union in 2017 and pulled out of backing them, just as the Club he funded, Heidelberger RK, were about to qualify for the Challenge Cup. At the same time he brought Stade Francais, which ultimately prevented Heidelberger RK from competing in the Challenge Cup as no two clubs in Europe can be owned by the same person. As a result, players contracted to Heidelberger RK were blocked from playing for the national side, although a truce was reached for the 2019 RWC final qualifying tournament when Germany benefitted from the eligibility scandal and disqualification of Spain, Romania and Belgium. Since then Germany have fallen well down the rankings and finished fourth in the 2019/20 Rugby Europe Trophy (the tier below the RE Championship).
Topic: Rugby Europe launch the Super Cup (Read 1171 times)
Always a Wasp