… Guyana and Jamaica turn in notable performances
TRINIDAD and Tobago played undefeated on the opening day of the NACRA Men’s Caribbean Sevens Rugby Championship while defending champions Guyana and Jamaica both picked up a loss.
The North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) tournament kicked off at the Guyana National Stadium yesterday with the Trinis, who finished as runners-up last year to Guyana, first overwhelming Barbados 29-5 then narrowly defeated Mexico 10-5 and capped their day with an emphatic 46-0 victory over the British Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile, the Guyanese, who are now chasing their fifth Caribbean Sevens Rugby title, got off to a bad start when they fell to Jamaica 5-17 with the Reggae Ruggers exacting revenge for the loss in the CAC Sevens Rugby tournament Finals last Sunday.
But the loss was basically seen as a wake-up call to the champions who played with vengeance against St Lucia whom they thumped 38-0.
In that game, Dane Parks was in superb form, using his past quickness to score two tries in succession in which the conversions were scored by Ryan Gonsalves.
Team captain Claudius Butts and the sturdy Kevin McKenzie along with Dwayne Schroeder were the other top performers in that game along with Gonsalves.
Guyana’s second win of the day came against the Cayman Islands (17-0) and again, Butts was in a no-nonsense mood scoring the games first try, with the conversion scored by McKenzie.
The UK-based player (McKenzie) scored his second conversion of the day just before halftime when he out-sprinted and bullied his way through the Caymans defence, to score a try which he made good with his kick.
At halftime the score read Guyana 12, Cayman Islands nil, and in the second half, only Dominic Lespierre was able to add to the points when he slashed through two defenders and reached the end zone with little hassle.
Lespierre was not able to take Guyana’s score past 17 since his kick sailed wide of the goal.
The Cayman Islands did pick up the day’s upset win when they scored a last-minute penalty against Jamaica and won 8-7.
Jamaica were not prepared for the type of game the Cayman Islands players brought as they surprised them with a more laid-back, defensive-type game and after falling 7-5 at halftime, they came out in the second half with more intensity in their office.
The game clock was on its final seconds when the referee awarded the Caymans with a penalty kick approximately 25 yards away from goal and instead of going for the try, the player went for the kick which he scored and gave his side three points which put them in the lead and victory.
St Lucia who failed to pick up a win yesterday handed Cayman Islands their win yesterday when they went down 33-14.
Meanwhile, in today’s championship rounds, Guyana will face the Bahamas at 11:00 h then Trinidad and Tobago at 13:00 h in two must-win games if they want to reclaim their title.
The day’s play is expected to get on the way at 09:00 h with St Lucia facing the British Virgin Islands in the first game of the Plate Championships.