-Adonis
Coach of the Guyana national under-19 rugby team which placed third at the recent North America and West Indies Rugby Association junior World Trophy qualifying tournament Laurie Adonis feels the team did not have an adequate amount of time to prepare for the tournament.
“Given the time we had to prepare for the tournament, it would be regarded as a bit stifling, but nevertheless I was satisfied with how quickly the team pulled together.
“However, had we more time to work on some more areas of game-play that would have further strengthened the squad, the coach added.
The tournament was won by the Cayman Islands who overpowered Mexico 22-3 in the final.
The Cayman Islands had earlier defeated Guyana and drew with Trinidad in their Pool B encounters.
In the third placed showdown, Guyana, who had defeated Trinidad, bowed out to Jamaica while Trinidad were victorious against hosts Barbados to finish fifth.
“Mostly it was the match-ups against the Seniors that placed the team in game situations to learn to work as a unit,” Adonis said.
Adonis said the inclusion of England-based Rupert Giles also brought a wealth of experience to the side.
Adonis said even though they lost, it was evident that Guyana had the talent to become the 2008 Champions but that the team, was found wanting in the decision-making aspect of the game.
“Never before has a Guyana Junior Rugby team been defeated in two matches in a tournament until now nor have they ever lost outright to a Caribbean team,” he declared.
During the period of July 5 – 13, six teams from the West Indian region went into battle to decide which team will go forward and represent the region at the International Rugby Association’s (IRB) 2009 Junior World Rugby Trophy tournament.
The NAWIRA Junior World Trophy Qualifier had a historic final as it was the first time that the Cayman Islands and Mexico had reached the final since the championships commenced.
In Guyana’s opening match against the Cayman Islands, they took control of the first half which ended with Guyana leading 7-3 at half time while in the second half, the advantage shifted slowly due to fading Guyana aggression.
Even though still in control three penalties against Guyana which the opposition converted led Guyana down the road of defeat.
The Guyana team, however, reduced their game errors against Trinidad and Tobago in their second game which they won 15-10.
In the final group game Trinidad and the Cayman Islands finished in a draw thereby relegating Guyana to the third place battle with Jamaica on the final day.
The Guyana versus Jamaica was probably the toughest of Guyana’s matches with the two teams fighting hard for the first 35 minutes with no let up even as the segment ended 0-0.
Once again there was no fire from the Guyanese in the second half and Jamaica capitalized scoring two tries, one of which was converted to defeat Guyana for the second year in a row.
The Guyana under-19 team had approximately 80 percent of its players new to the international level or new players to the sport which spiked the system to teach the youths how to play the game as well operating in game situations.
The upside of the tournament as with every tournament is that a lot of players were exposed to a high level of competition and gained a bit of experience for the future.
Meanwhile Giles said he was thankful for the opportunity to compete for Guyana.
“I enjoyed the experience of playing in the tropics and am grateful for the opportunity of representing Guyana and hope to compete in the under19 tournament again next year with the goal of getting Guyana back to the top,” he told Stabroek Sport.
