The National Park was abuzz yesterday afternoon as Rugby once again took centre stage and the Hornets taking the UG Wolves to school, defeating them 34 – 28 to win the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) 10’s Rugby title.

Usually the perennial whipping boys, the University of Guyana (UG) certainly turned things around and had put on a clinical display of Rugby against the Hornets which featured some of Guyana’s prominent players in the sport.

At half time, the University students had raced to a 21 – 12 lead and seemed poised to cart off their first title in rather upsetting fashion, but the last stanza wrote an entirely different story.

Guyana’s national captain Ryan Gonsalves showed why he’s country’s top player and ‘Mr. Dependable’, scoring two tries and making good of two conversions.

Elwin Chase, Dane Parks, Chris Singh and Blades Baily all scored tries for the Hornets who would now focus on winning the Banks DIH Sevens tournament which starts next weekend.

The faces of the University of Guyana students told the story of the day; disappointment. Ryan Dey, Jose Mackenzie and Lance Mackenzie all scored tries but their effort were all sent down the drain.

Speaking to reporters after the contest, Gonsalves said that he was happy his team came out with the win and lauded the effort of the UG Wolves and said that their showing yesterday tells that the sport is certainly growing and in time to come they (UG) will be a strong contender.

“It was very competitive. As you saw, they were leading us at half time, but experience was on our side and we were able to use that to win,” Gonsalves said.

The Guyana national Captain said that the Hornets will now shift their attention to the Banks DIH Sevens tournament which serves as a catalyst to Guyana’s preparation to the NACRA Sevens title.

President of the GRFU Peter Greene pointed out the steady growth of the UG team, stating, “They are not little boys no more, they have grown some hair on their chest and we (GRFU) are happy for them. I’m happy that we had an exciting day of Rugby and we now look forward to the Banks Sevens – the Road to Mexico. We expect an exciting tournament.”

(By Rawle Toney)