By Edison Jefford
Former captain of the Guyana senior rugby team, Theodore Henry and Claudius Butts assured their local counterparts yesterday that the five Guyanese in the West Indies’ Rugby 16-man squad will make the final 12 for the San Diego tour.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport yesterday Henry said that local coach Sherlock Solomon had been working very hard with the locally-based Henry, Butts and Albert La Rose to ensure that they make the final 12.
“I believe all five Guyanese will be selected, we have been training real hard under coach (Sherlock) Solomon,” Henry said, adding that the players in Trinidad were doing their part to maintain decent fitness.
The other two players in the WI 16-man squad, Richard Staglon and Kevin Mckenzie, are based in Trinidad. The five Guyanese players were called to a camp in Trinidad this weekend to prepare for the World Sevens Series in San Diego next month. The International Rugby Board World Sevens Rugby Series in San Diego will be held from the 10-11th of February. Head Coach Joe Whipple and assistant Jonathan Cassidy, along with manager Curtis Nero called the camp this weekend.
Henry said that making the final 12 was not enough for the local players. He noted that it was all about winning and getting past the first round in the tournament so that the West Indies team could get easier draws in the IRB series.
“We are not only looking to make the final 12 but much better performances from the West Indies team on the IRB circuit,” Henry said.
“We have Fiji, Argentina and Scotland in our first round group in San Diego,” Henry said, adding that Fiji was currently ranked world number one by the IRB. The local rugby star said that they always got the difficult teams because they don’t get past the first round.
Head coach Whipple echoed those sentiments in a Guyana Rugby Football Union release.
“I expect our performance to be improved over last year. We improved from 2005 to 2006 as a result of our higher level of fitness and better cover defence,” Whipple said, adding that more improvements are likely this year.
“This year our fitness and cover defence will again be improved as well as our offence execution should be improved. We are starting to buy in to the patterns of play. This should give us an opportunity to score some tries,” the head coach stated.
In terms of playing against the best teams in the world, Whipple observed that the WI team needs to be more mentally prepared and focused on team performance. “If we do, we will continue to show improvements against the best teams in the world.”
According to the release, the WI rugby team preparation started with the Trinidad Sevens tournament, followed by a fitness programme that included sprints and gym work last year.
“All players’ fitness has been monitored through regular fitness tests. Players not providing fitness scores through injury, etc. were eliminated from the original long list of 24 players established in November,” the release stated.
The camp this weekend will consist of six practice matches combining individual and team skills with trial games on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The final team for the IRB series in San Diego will be announced immediately after the camp.
The 12-man composition will come together on February 5 in San Diego to complete final preparations for the IRB Series USA Sevens tournament.
The 16-man squad includes: Derek Hurdle, Tom Healy (Bermuda), Devon Woodside (Bahamas), Damain Pearson (British Virgin Islands), Theodore Henry, Claudius Butts, Kevin Mackenzie, Richard Staglon, Albert La Rose (Guyana), Graham Alkins, Kelson Figuero, Nyeun Franco, Jason Clark, Andre Carbera (Trinidad), Kurt Johnson and Antonio Gibbons (Barbados).
