By Emmerson Campbell
The national 15s rugby team held its final simulation game yesterday at the Providence National Stadium ahead of its all-important game against Trinidad and Tobago in the Southern Zone of the NACRA Regional Qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The six-time NACRA 7s champions and number two rated 15s side in the Caribbean is in a must-win situation in its June 2 match, which will kick off at the Providence National Stadium against the ruggers from the Twin Island Republic.
After playing Barbados to a 10-10 stalemate in Barbados last weekend, the locals must win in order to keep their hopes alive.
The Trinidad side whipped Barbados (30-3), three weeks ago and the winner of the Guyana versus Trinidad & Tobago game will play the winner of the Northern Zone for the NACRA Caribbean Rugby World Cup Regional Qualifier Finals.
National Coach and player Theodore Henry in an interview with Stabroek Sport at the stadium yesterday stated that the team enjoyed the best session for quite some time.
“I thought this was one of our better sessions, we benefited from the entire squad being out here so it was a very good work out for us,” said Henry.
The national coach said his availability, along with other experienced players: Claudius Butts, and the Trinidad and Tobago based duo of Richard Staglon and Ronald Mayers, will enable them to be locked in defensively as well and to score more tries, something the team failed to do last weekend.
“We have more experienced players in the three-quarter line out so I think finishing tries would not be a problem against Trinidad. It’s just about us sticking to the game plan and executing in terms of defence. We are notable for making good tackles and playing a good defence so that should not be a problem,” Henry said.
He continued, “Against Barbados we had tons of energy, we were very aggressive. But I thought the inexperience really hurt us in Barbados. But we are at full strength now so it’s going to be an exciting game against Trinidad.”
The national team which lost the final game to Bahamas last year will be seeking to be the number 15 and 7s rugby team in the Caribbean and Henry said that is the team’s main focus.
“The team is very optimistic; against Trinidad everybody wants the win. We were there last year and we were runners-up two years in a row, this year we definitely want to go the whole nine yards,” he added.
The final team will be named later this week.
