NACRA Women’s 7s Caribbean Championships …
HOST nation and two-time defending champions Guyana and their arch rivals Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica were the top performers on the opening day of the 2010 North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Women’s Sevens Caribbean Championship at the Guyana National Stadium. The three countries all looked ‘Champion-like’ especially when Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica clashed in the second game of the day in which they played to a 5-5 draw.
Guyana, looking on from the dressing room area, seemed not too concerned about the two sides’ brilliant display of rugby, and went out and soundly thrashed Mexico 46-0, producing the day’s highest margin of victory.
Trinidad and Tobago  whipped St Lucia 27-0 and then in the highly anticipated clash of the day between Guyana and Jamaica, the two sides drew the fixture scoreless, with a game that saw high egos and prestige, coupled with tight defending setting the tone of a ‘hug and kick’ match.
The Jamaicans, however, showed what they are made of when they dismantled the Cayman Islands 36-0, while Trinidad handed the Mexicans their second loss (31-7) in their three matches with a clinical display of Rugby.
In the final match to close day one of the NACRA Women’s Sevens Caribbean Championship, Guyana defeated St Lucia 10-0.
St Lucia’s lone win of the day came against Cayman Islands who failed to chalk up a win from their three matches.
The tournament concludes today from 09:00 h, with Guyana playing the Cayman Islands in the first of the six matches remaining in the preliminary round of the tournament.
Meanwhile, speaking to Chronicle Sport at the conclusion of yesterday’s matches, Guyana’s Women’s coach Alton Agard said he was impressed with his team’s performance given the fact that they are playing in their first competitive game since they lifted the Caribbean championship last year in Mexico.
Assessing his team’s performance he said, “I think we performed beyond our expectations. We played total rugby in the first game against Mexico but then we strayed away from our game plan against Jamaica where we did a lot of kicking, and then against St Lucia we put pressure on our selves with poor passing.”
He added that “this is indicative of not playing rugby for a long time, because this is their first competitive rugby these women are playing since last year in Mexico.
“But I hope with a little bit of rest if we come tomorrow (this) morning and stick with the game plan we will be victorious at the end of the day.”