THE Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) is in an all-too-familiar position with having to find millions to ensure the country’s participation at this year’s Rugby Americas North (RAN) 7s Championship, set for Mexico City, November 25 – 26.

This year’s RAN Sevens Championship is a qualifier for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation (CACSO) Games, 2018 Hong Kong Sevens, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 and Commonwealth Games.
“The women have a very good chance of qualifying for some of those games because they’re really good,” said GRFU president Peter Green.
Speaking briefly with Chronicle Sport yesterday, Green, when asked about how much it will take to properly prepare and take both teams to Mexico in November, stated “about seven million dollars; that’s what we’re looking at for each team, but we have a meeting later and I’ll be better able to give a better figure after.”
It’s no secret that Rugby in Guyana, despite their successful track record in the sport, is the least funded programme from both Government and corporate Guyana.
Green, however, said the Union will be doing everything in their power to send both teams to the championship.
Guyana players are known for their dominance in the Sevens format, having won seven regional titles; the most by any Caribbean team under the RAN umbrella, and Ryan Gonsalves, the team’s captain, stated that while retaining their title is priority, qualifying for a number other international tournaments is also key.
“We’re focusing next on the sevens in Mexico, we’re going to have our domestic season in a couple of days and from then, we’re going to focus on retaining our Sevens title,” said team captain Ryan Gonsalves while speaking to Chronicle Sport over the weekend.