The rugby union says the Guyana Men’s Sevens Team played below expectations at the Pan-American Games held in Guadalajara Mexico last month.
A release yesterday from the rugby union said that after participating, the team has a clear understanding of what is required to excel at the international level even if got little satisfaction from the games played. With the exception of a spirited performance against the USA and a win over Mexico, the release said that the standard of play did not meet expectations.
The Guyana Rugby Football Union noted in the release that injuries took their toll on the national team as Dominique Lespierre, who plays professional rugby in Australia, was injured and ruled out of contention prior to the beginning of the competition.
The Pan Am Games (PAG) regulations then prevented the registration of coach/manager Theo Henry as a replacement for Lespierre, resulting in the local ruggers playing the entire competition with eleven players on the roster rather than twelve.
Another rugger, Dwayne Schroeder was injured on the first day of competition and side-lined for the rest of the tournament. The release also said that Kevin McKenzie sustained a knee injury against the USA and was unavailable for the second game against Mexico.
Lack of exposure at the international level due to limited finances was evident by the early and frequent losses of possession, resulting in long periods of exhausting defensive play, the release said.
Similarly, the instinct to stop playing at a perceived infraction, rather than playing to the whistle, reflected a lack of exposure to different styles of refereeing, the rugby union stated.
On the positive side, it said that with the exception of Argentina, Guyana was not outclassed by the opposition and “our levels of fitness matched those of opposing teams.” The PAG confirmed that the higher intensity preparatory fitness programme paid off and needs to be routinely incorporated into preparations for other tournaments.
It added that Guyana fielded two new players: Vallon Adams and Brion Walks at the international level.
The positives and negatives of the Pan-Am Games provided an excellent foundation going forward into the North American and Caribbean Championships (NACRA) tournament in Barbados this week-end, November 12-13th, the rugby union stated.
Games & Results
Guyana lost to Uruguay 0-20
Guyana lost to Argentina 0-40
Guyana defeated Mexico 12-7 (tries were registered by Ronald
Mayers, Ryan Gonsalves, conversion
Gonsalves)
Guyana lost to USA 12-24
Guyana lost to Mexico 7-14 (try by McKenzie conversion Gonsalves)
Guyana lost to Brazil 7-26 (try by Adams conversion Gonsalves)
