Jul.23.2010
CLAUDIUS Butts will lead Guyana’s Men’s team at this year’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Rugby tournament while Sabola Gray will wear the captain band for the women’s in the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) 7s championships. The Guyana Rugby Football released the names of the two squads yesterday. According to the GRFU, for the males only the names of the players participating in the CAC games will be disclosed and those for the NACRA championships will be announced next week.
Butts, who is also captain of the West Indies Rugby team, is no stranger to leading Guyana at major tournaments - something he’s been used to for several years, with his most recent appointment being that in the International Rugby (IRB) USA Sevens World Series held earlier this year in Las Vegas.
The team comprises several of the players who were Butts’ team mates in the USA with the likes of UK-based players Kevin McKenzie and Dominic Lespierre.
Another UK-based player Rupert Giles was also named in the squad of 12 that was released yesterday after the team had completed their encampment at the Splashmin’s Eco Resort on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.
Half-back Ryan Gonsalves, forwards Ronald Mayers, Dwayne Schroeder and Theodore Henry, along with Hooker Richard Staglon (vice-captain) who were a part of the historic Guyana team at the IRB USA Sevens tournament, have found themselves once again chasing history as they seek to claim the CAC title on home soil.
The other players on the team are half-backs Troy Bascom and Chris Singh and back player Elwin Chase.
According to the teams’ Technical Director Joe Whipple who spoke to the gathering after the announcement of the squad, it was a tough task selecting the players because of the wide array of talent to choose from but nonetheless, he believes that the players named were the best for the CAC tournament.
He added that the players have been training hard for the tournament and it is only right for them to be rewarded with the much needed support so that they can go out and perform to the best of their ability.
Guyana will join fellow NACRA-playing nations Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, Cayman, Jamaica and Mexico along with Costa Rica and Venezuela from the Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) as they vie for the prestigious CAC title come July 24–25 at the Guyana National Stadium.
Twelve matches will be played on the first day, beginning from 10:30 h with the hosts playing Costa Rica in the third match of the day.
Meanwhile, for the women, their team for the NARCA tournament for which they are the defending champions, is made up of players who participated in last year’s tournament.
Guyana’s women won NACRA 7s title twice - back-to-back - and will be joined this year by Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Mexico, Cayman Islands and St Lucia in the six-team tournament.
The women’s Championship in the NACRA 7s tournament will run from July 26 to 27 where they will play a round-robin format (a total of 15 games). After that, the teams will be seeded based on their overall results and then they will head into the knockout phase of the competition.
The local ladies will begin their quest to be crowned three-time women’s Caribbean Champions against St Lucia on Saturday.
Men’s team: Claudius Butts (captain), Theodore Henry, Ronald Gonsalves, Richard Staglon (vice-captain), Rupert Giles, Kevin McKenzie, Dominic Lespierre, Ronald Mayers, Dwayne Schroeder, Troy Bascom, Chris Singh, Elwin Chase.
Female team: Sabola Gray (captain), Colette Hope, Desaun Josiah, Maurice Skeete, Latoya Cordis, Grace Jarvis, Sheneeza Daniels, Nikita Davis, Andrea Lashley, Karen Skeete, Fiona Ward, Natasha Andrews, Tricia Monroe and Laurel Anderson.