-Guinness VII’s set for January 21st

THEGuyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU)will in the coming days complete several key tournaments as they rush to close off their 2016 sporting calender.
Due to the inclement weather, the 2016 VII’s season will continue on January 21st with the inaugural Guinness Sevens championships to be followed by the GRFU Sevens on January 28th, Beharry Sevens on February 5th and Trophy Stall sevens on February 12th.

Those will be followed by the commencement of the 2017 XV Championship season.
The dates for the annual Saturday Rugby Programme, July Summer camp, as well as the Schools’ championships, GIR Festivals, women’s sevens and tens, U/19 Competitions, coaching and referee training programs will be announced by the end of the month.
On the international scene, the Senior National Men’s VII team is currently in training for their Hong Kong engagement in April which will provide valuable match exposure in anticipation of this year’s Qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup as well as the Commonwealth Games.

Only the winners of these tournaments will gain automatic qualification with Canada being the main obstacle in the tournament. The body is planning a ‘friendly’ against Columbia, Brazil or Argentina to assist preparations,in March and/or September.
On the 15’s front, they will play the winner of the Barbados/Curacao/Martinique clashes in an away game on May 13th,before hosting nemesis Trinidad and Tobago in the South Zone finals on June 10th.

The winner plays the winner of the North Zone with North zone and overall champion Mexico facing the likes of USA South, Jamaica and Cayman Islands.
The ladies and to a lesser extent the U/19 have tentative engagements coming up in Trinidad and French Guiana,prior to participation at the annual RAN Championships.
Their engagements are tentative given the fact that they will not be receiving a subsidy as in years past by the governing body. The Union nevertheless will be working to ensure the teams receive competition and funding towards growth.