The national men’s and women’s sevens rugby teams flew out yesterday for Barbados in their quest to defend their respective North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Sevens titles today and tomorrow.
During a press briefing on Thursday at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) building, president of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Kit Nascimento announced the men’s and women’s participation in the NACRA championships.
The GRFU boss also commented on the performance of the men’s team at the recent Pan American Games which were held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Nascimento said that the national women’s rugby team which will be captained by Sabola Gray is the three-times NACRA champions and will be defending their championship against 10 other teams. The number one seeded locals will face opposition from St Lucia, Mexico, USA, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Canada, Cayman Islands, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guadeloupe.
Group A will consist of Guyana, St Lucia, Mexico, USA and Barbados, while Group B will consist of Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Canada, Cayman Islands, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guadeloupe. The team is not yet named.
Nascimento added that the Guyana men’s rugby team has won the NACRA championships five times in succession and will be defending their title against 15 other teams.
Ryan Gonsalves will captain the local ruggers who will enter the championships seeded number one, followed by Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands, Barbados, St Lucia, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Martinique, Bermuda, Guadeloupe, St Vincent, USA South, Turks and Caicos and Curacao in that respective order.
The 16 teams will be divided into four pools, A, B, C, and D.
Pool A consists of Guyana, St Lucia, BVI and Curacao, Pool B will be made up of Jamaica, Barbados, Martinique and Turks and Caicos, and Pool C has Mexico, Cayman Islands, Bermuda and USA South, while Pool D will be made up of Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe and St Vincent.
Gonsalves noted that his team has put the bad showing at the Pan Am Games behind them and are ready and confident to defend their title. The men’s captain added that they have worked on improving their defence which was the major cause of the heavy defeats the team suffered at the Pan Am Games.
Gonsalves also mentioned that his team will make Guyana a proud rugby nation once again.
Nascimento listed injuries, lack of fitness of some players and the lack of exposure as the main reasons why the team performed poorly at the Pan Am championships. The GRFU president also stated that in order for rugby in Guyana to further develop the team needs to take part in more tournaments to gain experience and exposure.
Nascimento also thanked the corporate sponsors and the government for making timely contributions for the teams to participate in the tournament but stressed that more needs to be done financially for the sport of rugby.
The winner of the NACRA men’s tournament will represent the region at the World Sevens Series in Hong Kong next March.
Also at the briefing was Theodore Henry, player/coach of the men’s team, Mike McCormack, Director of Sevens and Chairman of Selectors, John Lewis, former GRFU president and Match Secretary.
The men’s full squad reads:
Ryan Gonsalves, Claudius Butts, Kevin McKenzie, Peabo Hamilton, Vallon Adams, Ronald Mayers, Walter George, Richard Staglon, Troy Bascombe, Avery Corbin, Elwyn Chase, and Theodore Henry (player/coach). Physiotherapist: Ariane Mangar
The women’s squad is made up of Sabola Gray (captain), Collette Hope, Andrea Lashley, Tricia Munroe, Nikita Davis, Grace Jarvis, Desean Josiah, Fiona Ward, Karen Skeete, Sabana Daniels, Shanell Daniels, and Princessa Wilkey.
The women’s team will be coached by Alton Agard while the physiotherapist duties will go to Barrington Browne.
