CAC 7s Rugby tournament kicks off today …
RUGBY players from the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) and Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) playing regions will for the first time have a chance to justify their inclusion by the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation (CASCO) to this year’s CAC Games when the Rugby Tournament kicks off at the Guyana National Stadium. Eight countries, (Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Costa Rica) will participate in the inaugural event that is set to start at 10:30 h today and conclude tomorrow.
Sevens Rugby, which is the game’s shortest format being played for 14 minutes (seven minutes per half) with seven players a side, has been enjoying its string of popularity recently and was even further boosted last year when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it will be part of the 2016 Olympic Games.
Guyanese will have a chance to see for the first time 7s Rugby, which is regarded as one of the world’s most popular sports, at one of its highest levels and more importantly to be part of history.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) Regional General Manager, Tom Jones, showered the local organising committee for the games with praise for their efforts in putting together a first-class games, while stating that “It’s a great honour that rugby be involved in the CAC Games and the Olympics and our focus is to become an excellent participant sport and to justify our invitation,”
Jones repeated his sentiments at a reception hosted by the committee on Thursday night at the Georgetown Club where seven of the eight teams were gathered (Venezuela had not arrive in the country at that time). He wished for good rugby to be displayed.
Looking at the competition, all of the visiting teams seem destined to defeat Guyana who are four-year Caribbean Champions and are regarded as one of the best Sevens Rugby-playing team in the region.
However, the home side in various sections of the media have stated that they are more than ready to deliver based on their preparation for the tournament.
“Going bold for gold” was the theme used by the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) in their drive for support of the sevens team for the CAC games and Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony urged the team to continue striving for excellence and to bring home the glory.
He said in the Caribbean, Jamaicans are known for their dominance in the discipline of Athletics and noted that the same could be said for Guyana in Rugby once the team clinches the CAC championships.
But listening to speeches of the participating teams, their motives are just the same since they all want to carve their names in the sports history books as being the first to win the first installation of the sport at the CAC level.
A gala opening ceremony is planed for 10:30 h after which, the first game will start with the clash of Spanish-speaking countries (Venezuela and Mexico) followed by Trinidad and Tobago versus Jamaica and then the hosts will face off with Costa Rica.
It will be the first time that the two sides (Costa Rica and Guyana) will be facing each other because of their placement in different rugby unions and according to team captain Claudius Butts, his squad are “100% ready for the battle”.