GRFU seeks $15M for RAN final against Mexico

By Stephan Sookram
THE Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) must now stump up $15M to send the Green Machine to Mexico later this month for the Finals of the Rugby America North (RAN) 15s Finals.Guyana will face Mexico after that side’s 34-24 triumph over the Cayman Islands recently.
According to RAN rules, the team with the higher seeding during the last edition of the tournament – Mexico placed second – get to play hosts for the final.
However, that, according to the Guyana Rugby Football Union president Peter Green means that they must now stump up a budget of $15M for the journey.
During a press conference on Monday, Green said, “Mexico is a high altitude country. We need to go at least 10 days in advance to acclimatise. That costs money.”
“The Green Machine have been doing well but it’s been difficult to get people to translate that into the performance of a National Rugby team that have been leading from the front over the national teams of this country. That has to change,” the outspoken head said.
The team is ranked 46th in the world and 8th in the Americas while Mexico is now 11th after the win and Green believes that “Mexico have nothing to lose and everything to gain with victory over us because they are the underdogs.”
He continued, “We have everything to lose because if we lose this game, we lose the qualifiers for the World Cup 2019; we also lose the option of hosting games at home as the number one-ranked country.”
The GRFU will have to bring in all the ‘big guns’ according to Green, with the likes of Kevin McKenzie, Vallon Adams from the USA and a few others expected to make the line-up.
Also present during this morning’s meeting was assistant coach Kenneth Grant. He contended that the unit has been in training ahead of the fixture, looking at the minor mistakes that were made during the earlier games in the series.
Guyana’s match against the Mexicans is set for July 27.