Following a brief press conference at the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, the Rugby Sevens team yesterday departed for Barbados to begin the next phase of their training regimen in preparation for the Commonwealth Games that will be held in New Delhi, India from the October 3 – 14.
Giving the team words of encouragement in the send off, Minister of Sports, Dr. Frank Anthony reiterated Guyana’s support and said he hoped for their best ever accomplishment at the Games.
“As the team goes forward to participate in the Commonwealth Games we have a very large contingent of athletes who are going down to the games and I think they will be among the largest group participating and we are very pleased for them,” Dr. Anthony observed.
He expressed pride in the outstanding performances that the team has displayed in prior tournaments and expressed the hope that they will continue to excel.
“Rugby is very special and we wish the team well. We know that leading up to the games all the tournaments that the team has participated in here and within the region they have been victorious. And we want that streak to continue, as Guyana continues to support you, so go forward and we hope you do your best,” the minister said.
President of the Guyana Football and Rugby Union, Kit Nascimento pledged the team’s commitment towards performing at their best during the tournament.
“I promise you that we will take each game as it comes, with the intention of winning each game as we play. Out of the 16 teams there, there will be at least the top 8 or nine that will be professional teams in the world.”
Nascimento noted that Guyana will be the first country coming out of the Caribbean region to be present at the rugby division of the games, with Canada being the only other team from the western hemisphere that will be taking part in the event.
Nascimento promised an upset defeat for Canada in the preliminary rounds and stressed the team’s optimistic expectations on entering the tournament.
“Though rugby has been to the Commonwealth Games for a number of years now, we are the first from the Caribbean to be represented. Canada is the only other team from our region of the world that will be at the games, and interesting enough, Canada is in our pool too and we will represent the Caribbean by putting Canada in their place.
“We leave with optimism, we’re well prepared but we still have a little preparation to do and we are going to be doing that in Barbados and then in the UK,” Nascimento related.
For the Rugby Sevens competition, Guyana have been placed in Group “A”, that also includes Scotland and New Zealand, who are the defending Commonwealth Games Sevens Champion.
From Barbados the team will depart on September 23 for England where they will undergo another phase of preparation which would include competing in a Rugby Sevens tournament on September 26.
Nascimento had emphasized that the team’s participation in England will play a vital role in their preparation for the games.
The team will then depart England on September 30 for India where they will do further preparatory work which will include a trial match against Canada and another possible trial match against Samoa.
Nascimento yesterday said that the team faced a setback by having to travel to Barbados without Aver Corbin and Kevin McKenzie due to UK visa delays. Nascimento explained that Corbin who only recently received his visa is expected to join the team in Barbados by Wednesday while McKenzie is still having difficulties acquiring his visa.
According to Nascimento, should McKenzie be unable to acquire his UK visa, alternative arrangements will be made for him to travel directly to India routed through the US.
Nascimento also extended special credit to GT&T for the sponsorship of the team’s blazers and to the tailor, who he accredited for his efficiency, having made the suits on such short notice.
Captain of the team, Claudius Butts told Stabroek Sport of the experience the team gained at the International Rugby Board (IRB) USA Sevens World Series in Les Vegas earlier this year.
“Playing in Las Vegas earlier this year in February it gave us the experience so that we could go to the Commonwealth Games and perform at a certain level. Most of those were professional and international teams and that gave us the extra something to go and perform at the Games, so that’s something positive on our side.”
Also speaking to Stabroek Sport, team player and coach Theodore Henry asserted that at this point he believes the team was about 90% prepared.
