The national rugby outfit has some wrinkles to smooth out ahead of their Rugby Americas North (RAN) 15s Championship game versus Trinidad on June 10.
This is according to skipper, Ryan Gonsalves who made the comments immediately after Guyana defeated Barbados in the RAN 15s opener on Saturday at the Garrison Savannah.
Despite securing a 36-24 win against the host, the score line, which was one of the closest in recent memory against the burly Bajans, highlighted the fact that more work, especially on the defensive end, needs to be done when Guyana, the 2014 champions, face a more potent opposition next month at home.
Last year, Guyana, the overall runner up to Mexico, easily disposed of Barbados with a 48-17 drubbing.
“We have work to do before that game against Trinidad,” said Gonsalves. “We have to work on our set plays and defensive alignment, there is no doubt, but we will be taking the positives with the negatives stuff that affected us today also.”
Gonsalves added: “We know what it takes so we will have to adjust to whatever Trinidad brings. It’s always a neck-to-neck battle with us and Trinidad so we really have to bring our A game especially playing at home.”
Defence will certainly be uppermost in the coaching staff’s minds during training in the weeks ahead as the ‘Green Machine’ prepare for the ‘Soca Ruggers’ challenge.
On Saturday, Guyana produced some exhilarating attacking plays, scoring six tries but allowed Barbados too much time and space, fell off tackles and left huge gaps in the defensive line.
Coach, Shane Grant-Stuart and his charges will have to work hard in prep to alleviate the defensive deficiencies which haunted the unit in the season opener.
