By Floyd Christie
The rugby community came out in support of the national men’s rugby Sevens team on the opening day the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games yesterday at the National Stadium, Providence and were not disappointed.
They saw the local team edging closer to CAC gold with wins over The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Costa Rica.
Golden Arrowheads flew high in the stands as the majority Guyanese supporters rallied behind the local team.
They witnessed Guyana remaining undefeated after the first day’s play with successive wins in the first round of rugby Sevens to ever be played in the CAC Games.
The correct proportion of size and speed resulted in the Guyanese men defeating The Bahamas 21-7 and holding the Cayman Islands and Costa Rica scoreless as they accumulated 38 and 54 points respectively.
After conceding a try in their first game which was converted by The Bahamas, the Guyanese turned on the defence placing a stranglehold on their opponents which resulted in them even failing to smell their try line in games that followed.
The local team’s win against Costa Rica yesterday was indeed the highlight of their victories and their biggest showing of the day.
The locals ploughed through the Costa Ricans to reap the day’s highest points, relishing the constant cheers from supporters.
Within seconds of the start of the game against Costa Rica, forward Ronald Mayers received the ball early and did exactly what his position entails – advance forward.
Mayers went all the way over the try line after he broke free on the sideline to secure the game’s first try which was converted by Theodore Henry to put the National side ahead early.
The lightning fast Dane ‘Sparks’ Parks, lived up to his nickname and, quick as a spark, he weaved his way around defenders for two speedy tries, both of which were converted by Henry.
Half-back Christopher Singh also got in on action with his first try which was converted again by Henry to take Guyana to 28-0 at half time.
With Henry off the field it was now Dwayne Schroeder’s turn to convert for the national team and he did so successfully on each occasion occasions after tries from Richard Staglon and Mayers, after an aggressive run straight down the middle.
The Costa Rica players were relatively slower and a bit undersized compared to the Guyanese line-up and remained scoreless as their opponents sniffed the 50-point mark.
After failing to convert on a Dominic Lespierre try to take them past 50, the quick and stocky Kevin McKenzie made up for this with his try which was then converted by Lespierre to take the locals to their game-winning total.
In other games played in the opening round yesterday Guyana’s rugby rivals Trinidad and Tobago are shaping up to potentially be the national team’s biggest challenge as they secured wins against Venezuela (20-7) and Mexico (14-0).
They however did not have enough to get past Jamaica in their final game which ended in a draw with both teams on five points each.
Although losing to Guyana in their opening game, The Bahamas brought themselves right up when they closed the day with two wins against Costa Rica (24-12) and the Cayman Islands (17-5)
The Cayman Islands were the only other team to end the day with a win after they defeated Costa Rica 21-12.
