Guadeloupe triumphed 19-5 over Guyana in the exhilarating Rugby Americas North (RAN) 15s South Zone Cup final yesterday at the National Park.
After a highly defensive stalemate for much of the first half, left flanker, Pierre Brun opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, diving headlong over the line from the back of the ruck.
Fly half, Thibaut Berthomieu then buried the conversion to put the visitors up seven-nil.
Right flanker, Victor Jung then burst through the middle of the ‘Green Machine’ defence four minutes later to make the score 12-0.
Berthomieu’s boot then stretched the advantage to 14-nil and the victory was in the bag by halftime as Coach Dominic Graniou’s team exposed Guyana’s ragged defence again and again with a relentless deluge of kicks and crisp passes.
Guyana came out with a greater sense of urgency at the start of the second half and were poised to score, but unforced errors near the try line deflated the outfit and proved costly.
Right on the hour, the fresh legs of Hugo Delabroy who came off the bench, splintered the yellow-shirted defence and careered over the line to thwart any thoughts of a comeback.
Coach, Shane Grant-Stuart then emptied his bench and the move proved rewarding as O’Neil Charles put some respectability to the score line with a try for Guyana.
However, the balance of power remained with Guadeloupe who dominated possession. It was a wonderful, relentless game, with errors everywhere but the pace unrelenting and in the end, the visitors deservedly triumphed.
Grant-Stuart gave credit to the Guadeloupe side which played superior rugby for
much of the 80+ minutes. Under the brilliant sunshine, Guyana was beset with uncharacteristic errors, over-throwing line-outs, putting kicks long, spilling high balls, and Guadeloupe hit them again and again as they sat on the ropes.
In post-match comments, Grant-Stuart stated that his charges will have to revisit the drawing board and make the necessary adjustments to reverse its fortunes especially in the longer format of the game.
Speaking through an interpreter, the French speaking Granious credited his side’s saran wrap defence and bravery for the win. With the positive result, Guadeloupe will host North Zone winners Bermuda (who defeated Jamaica 43-14) in May. The winner of that fixture will have the right to play the loser of the Mexico versus the Cayman Islands in the latter half of the year for promotion into the Americas Challenge Championships.
