The Panthers Rugby Club has bragging rights again.
The black and purple clad outfit kicked off the month of December in fine style, defeating Police 14-7 to win the GRFU/ Trophy Stall 7s yesterday at the National Park.
Thanks to tries by Osei McKenzie and Godfrey Broomes along with two conversions from the latter, the Panthers were crowned champions of the one-day event which also attracted a team from the Guyana Defence Force.
After the Theo Henry-led, Police side came from behind to dispatch a game GDF outfit, they were confident of making it back-to-back weekend victories after winning last weekend’s tournament.
However, McKenzie and Broomes had other ideas and led from the front. An interception at midfield by Shawn David who scored followed by the Alex Crawford conversion just before the final whistle brought the score line some measure of respectability.
The Trophy Stall and the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) agreed to collaborate the one-day Sevens tournament held at the National Park.
Principals of the Trophy Stall agreed to donate the first and second place trophies, the MVP trophy, along with refreshments.
The four-team tournament also had female exhibition matches which got underway at noon yesterday.
Teams comprised players from local rugby clubs and the ultimate aim is geared towards preparing the national team for next year’s Rugby Americas North (RAN) Championship in Mexico.
Proprietor of the Trophy Stall establishment, Ramesh Sunich has urged other business entities to find a way to support sport in Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Rugby Football Union will host an event themed ‘Sip and Paint’ Black Tie Edition at Pressy’s Banquet Hall on Regent Street, Georgetown, from 18:30h to 23:00h today.
The main aim is to raise funds to offset expenses for the upcoming Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament in Mexico from February 11-13, 2022.
This will be the first of a series of fundraisers to offset the approximately GY$15M budget to send the male and female Sevens teams to the event.
Moreover, the 2022 RAN Sevens will also serve as qualifiers for 2022 Central American and Caribbean Games, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
