The national rugby squad to represent Guyana at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Rugby Games to be held at the National Stadium on July 24-25 was reduced to 19 players following trials last weekend at the National Stadium, Providence.
Director of Sevens and chairman of the selection committee, Mike McCormack, yesterday announced the members of the reduced squad at the National Park in the presence of Technical Director, Joe Whipple and President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Kit Nascimento.
The players were selected after an extensive review of video footage from the trials and, according to Nascimento; the process was not an easy one.
Addressing the players Nascimento said the process of whittling down the squad was very challenging because of the high quality of rugby which was played last weekend.
“You gave the selectors monumental headache,” he said, adding… “We had two days of hard trials and I was enormously pleased.
Nascimento lauded Whipple for travelling from Barbados and expending his time and energy towards the team’s preparation.
Whipple congratulated the players in recognition of their performance during the trials.
“You’ve worked hard, keep it up” he told the squad yesterday.
McCormack said that he saw a really encouraging display particularly in the fitness level of the players.
“This doesn’t come as a surprise, because the team has put in a lot of work since March.
“What we saw this weekend are the results of that,” McCormack added.
“The challenge now is to top that up to full international standards and I’m very confident that we can get were we need to go in time,” he stated.
The 19 man squad is: Avery Corbin, Theodore Henry, Ryan Hinckson, Walter George, Cyon Kitt, Dwayne Schroeder, Jason Tyrell, Troy Arjune and Elwin Chase (forwards). Troy Bascom, Peabo Hamilton, Ryan Gonsalves, Chris Singh, Claude Alexander, Claudius Butts, Leon Greaves, Dwayne Parks and Joseph Rahaman (half backs).
The utility player is Kevin McKenzie.
Also adding to the national squad’s strength will be five overseas players who will eventually join the squad at a date much closer to the CAC games.
The national team will be led by Claudius Butts while overseas-based national player Richard Staglon is the vice captain.
The 19 players will return to the National Stadium on Saturday for further trials.
