… awaiting government support

THE Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) yesterday announced a blend of youth and experience in its 12-man squad for the October 16-17 Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament, set for Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.

The event marks the first international competition hosted by RAN since the Women’s 10s and Men’s Under-19 in Barbados in July 2019 and the 2020 RAN Beach 5s in Hollywood Beach Florida last January.

Jamal Angus will lead coach Theodore Henry’s team of experienced players which includes Godfrey Broomes, Osei McKenzie, Rondel McArthur, Lancelot Adonis, Avery Corbin and Peabo Hamilton.

Phibian Joseph, Tyresse Prescod, Oniel Charles, Jonathan Garnett and Lionel Holder are the other players on the team that will seek to return the RAN trophy to Guyana since Guyana surrendered the title to Jamaica (28-24) in 2017.

George David is the team’s manager and the physiotherapist is Akeem Fraser.

Green Machine Ready!
“I’m about 90% comfortable with the preparation we’ve had so far. I would have liked for us to have some sort of competition,” coach Henry said at a press conference yesterday to mark the team’s announcement and update on their lead-up to the RAN showpiece.

Guyana, seven-time winners of the RAN title, will be grouped with Bermuda, Curacao and Belize and, according to Henry, “nothing short of a top-four finish is expected, but given the situation of how we’re seeded, it is highly likely that we can make the finals of the tournament.

“And in this tournament, getting into the finals of this tournament is anybody’s game.”

With Rugby, like many other sports in Guyana, not given the ‘okay’ by the local COVID-19 authorities to return to training, let-alone see any competitive action, Henry believes “this team has been thoroughly prepared in terms of fitness, but, match fitness is a totally different scenarios all together.’

“Like I’ve mentioned before, had we had the opportunity to play some better opposition, we would’ve been in a better position in terms of match fitness,” Coach ‘Theo’ noted.

He added that “the fact that we’ve been doing this for quite a long time. This team has not experienced that as yet. I’m hopeful, that the fact that I’ve been there and experienced a lot of those heart-breaks, a lot of my teaching is going to rub off on them and we don’t have to start from zero.”

Henry thinks everything “depends on the mind-set that they (the players) enter this tournament with. If they’re going to go there and bring out that big game mentality, or they’re going to fold under pressure. We’re hoping that they bring out this big game mentality that people know Guyana is capable of doing.”

Meanwhile, Angus, quizzed about the team’s readiness, pointed out “as a team, we’ve done our best to focus on our task; training, adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines. The young players coming up are up to the task, very vibrant and very excited about the task of getting out there.”
Angus said he’s “not really bothered or afraid of the team not gelling because under the circumstances, the right players are going to step-up.”

STILL SHORT
In spite of their success over the years and being one of, or if not the most decorated Rugby team in the Caribbean, the Green Machine struggles to receive financial support from Government and corporate Guyana, still exists.

The team’s manager George David said to-date, they’re still short US19,000 of their budget for the tournament.
A budget of $38,000 was put in place to handle accommodation, travel and meals for the players and staff attending the prestigious RAN tournament.

While Government has promised to support, nothing has since manifested. The GRFU is hoping that things change prior to the team’s departure on Wednesday October 13.

The winner of the two-day event will go on to play in the World Rugby Challenger Series in February/March of 2022.
The winner of next year’s Challenger Series – with details still to be announced by World Rugby – will join the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series as the 16th team.