Rugby season kicks off today as international matches loom
With at least two international matches scheduled for April and May, the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) 2019 season will officially kick off today with the President’s XV tackling the Vice President XV at the National Track and Field Centre.
Action starts at 16:30hrs.
This game will be followed by the commencement of the first round of the Bounty Farm 2019 XV Championships. The Guyana Defence Force outfit is the current reigning champions.
Guyana is down to host debutants Guadeloupe on April 27th in the Rugby Americas North (RAN) South Zone Championships final with the winner playing Bermuda for the overall championship honors as well as right to play the loser of the Mexico versus Cayman Islands in the latter half of the year for promotion into the Americas Challenge Championships.
Should Guyana defeat Guadeloupe, they will host North Zone winners Bermuda (who defeated Jamaica 43 - 14) at home the following month of May.
Following the international fixture versus Guadeloupe and possibly Bermuda, the Bounty Farm XV competition first round will take a break in May to commence the sevens preparations with the Banks Sevens.
This will be followed by several corporate sponsored sevens competitions building up to the 2019 RAN Sevens Championships from July 7 to 8 followed by the Pan American Games Rugby Sevens championships July 27th. Guyana qualified for the Pan American Games as runner up to Jamaica in 2018 following an extremely tight contest similar to the 2017 result.
Following its recent loss to Cayman Islands by a largely inexperienced development team, the GRFU has called up a number of its more experienced players to ensure that the Nation is well represented. This weekend’s game will be used as a yardstick towards identifying the best promising players in the run up to April 27.
A possible list of players called up for this weekend’s game has been released by the coaches. The GRFU President, Peter Green will be meeting with all players after the game. He stated that even if a player’s name is not on the list, players wishing to be given an opportunity should turn up. They will be given a trial run during the game.
PLAYERS’ LIST
President XV - Jamal Junior, Keifer Lopes, Jason Tyrell, Kevon David, James Osbourne, Grantley Williams, Jamal Angus, Rondell McArthur, Ryan Gonsalves, Lancelot Adonis, Godfrey Broomes, Michael Barrow, David Garrett, Junior Darrell, Tyrese Prescott, Patrick King, Ryan Dey and Dwayne Schroeder.
Vice President XV - Phibian Joseph, Glenroy Poole, Cyon Kitt, Jose Felicien, Walter George, Sean Phillips, Kurt Hunte, Cloyd Prowell, Daniel De Abreu, Peabo Hamilton, Avery Corbin, Claudius Butts, Elwin Chase, O’Neil Charles, Lloyd Anderson, Rickford Cummings, Toby David, Selwyn Henry and Daniel Anderson.