Jamaica aiming for rich pickings as poor relations
JAMAICA will go into their inaugural World Cup Sevens as rank outsiders without their coaches or players even getting paid in San Francisco.
While rugby’s Tier One nations will prepare for the tournament with gruelling training camps in state-ofthe-art facilities, things are very different for the Caribbean nation.
The island, remarkably, does not even have a single rugby pitch to use, so instead the country has focused on the UK where Jamaican-qualified players have been readily available. In charge of its British arm is Andrew Allen.
“The majority of our players are based in the UK, but our real focus is growing grass roots rugby in Jamaica itself,” he said.
“There are a handful of players in Jamaica we need to groom and bring along so that they can perform on the international stage. We took two or three to the Commonwealth Games and now we are taking four to the World Cup.
“None of us are paid and we do this purely for our passion to see Jamaican rugby grow.
“We train in London and we’ve got players travelling from Manchester and Hull on a weekly basis and they don’t even get paid expenses. It is an incredible commitment.
“Ultimately our success depends upon getting more sponsors on board who can help us fund Jamaican rugby.”
Allen’s side have made steady progress over the past few years, winning Rugby America’s North Sevens title and competing strongly at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens.
Jamaica will face France in the pre-round of 16 at the World Cup this weekend and even though they face a stern challenge, Allen insists they will give it everything they’ve got.
He said: “We are under no illusions about how tough it is going to be and, of course, we will struggle to compete with the top sides, but we can give a good account of ourselves against everyone else.”
In an attempt to boost the profile of rugby in Jamaica, Olympic 200m bronze medal sprinter Warren Weir will represent the Crocs at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia later this month.
He will not be involved in San Francisco, but Allen added: “Our technical director spoke to him at the Commonwealth Games. He joked he should try Sevens and amazingly, Warren took him up on his offer.
“It’s great we are going to the World Cup this year, but what we are really concentrating on is the 2020 Olympics.”