Guyana’s national rugby outfit opens its inaugural Americas 15s Rugby Challenge campaign against host Colombia today.
Manager of the team, Solomon Sam stated, prior to the team’s departure that despite being the lowest ranked team in the competition, Guyana will be seeking to pull off upsets.
“We have nothing to lose,” said Sam pointing out that as a result, the team will be playing freely and without the pressure of some of the other teams.
Today’s game will provide an insight into the standard of both aspiring teams. Guyana will next play Paraguay on Wednesday before wrapping up its campaign against Mexico, who they lost 32-3 to the only time they have met in 15s, back in October 2016, on Sunday.
The first edition of this new tournament created by Rugby Americas will be run by the Federación Colombiana de Rugby, which has chosen the city of Medellín to host it; the venue will be the Estadio Cincuentenario.
Nicknamed ‘The Green Machine’ Guyana’s team were invited to take part in the tournament after finishing second to USA South in the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Championship and are joined by fellow RAN competitors Mexico, as well as Colombia and Paraguay – two teams they have yet to face in international competition – from Sudamérica Rugby.
Two representatives from each region will take part: Guyana and Mexico will represent the North and host Colombia and Paraguay will represent the South.
