By Floyd Christie
Pipped in extra time.
That is the story of another successful showing by Guyana’s rugby team following the national men’s Sevens team’s win in extra time over Jamaica in the final of the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) championships yesterday at the Providence National Stadium.
For the Guyanese it was jubilation. For their reggae opponents, tears.
This was the second showdown of the tournament for the new found rivals.
In the first, on day one of the championships, Jamaica got the upper hand.
But, the locals performed when it mattered most, winning yesterday’s closely contested final 22-17.
In a repeat of last week’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, rugby Sevens final, when the local men’s team captured the gold medal, Jamaica once again went down to the Guyanese, but this time they were much tougher.
Jamaica knocked off the Bahamas in the semi finals 17-7 while Guyana overcame Mexico 19-5 in their semi-giving themselves an opportunity to avenge their first day’s defeat to the Jamaicans.
The Jamaicans, however, were not going down without a fight and had the Guyanese team on the back foot early in the final.
Guyana’s Richard Staglon was given a yellow card minutes in the game and, with only six players on the defensive, the attacking Jamaican’s snuck through and secured their first try which was subsequently converted.
Jamaica was not done yet and broke Guyana’s defence and the hearts of the Guyanese supporters with another try, which, thankfully for the Guyanese, was not converted.
Guyana was on the back foot, but Dominic Lespierre managed to strike back just before the halftime whistle when he broke away down the sideline to register Guyana’s first try, which was not converted.
The second half of the game undoubtedly belonged to the eventual Most Valuable Player of the tournament, Kevin McKenzie.
McKenzie escaped diving defenders to give Guyana the lead (17-12) with two quick tries, but only one was converted.
The Jamaicans making a successful last ditch effort across the Guyanese try-line could have snatched victory had the try been converted.
The kick went wide and the Jamaicans were made to pay dearly for the lapse as in extra time McKenzie bullied his way to score the game winning try for his team.
“To be successful, you have to be aggressive and that’s what I bring to the table… it was special, words can’t explain right now,” McKenzie said of his game winning try afterwards.
Mexico defeated The Bahamas in the third place playoffs 17-7 to end the NACRA championships in similar fashion to the CAC Games.
