By Rawle Toney
The Pepsi Hornets ‘A’ team captured the men’s title while the Yamaha Caribs took home the women’s trophy when the Yamaha Caribs celebrated their 16th anniversary with a Seven’s tournament yesterday at the National Park rugby field.
Four teams contested the men’s competition while three teams took part in the female division which saw a first time participation from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) female team who, even though they didn’t win a match, were very competitive.
The army women were first up against the eventual champions, the Yamaha Caribs, who welcomed the military girls in an embarrassing manner, thrashing them 40-0.
And when the ladies’ thought that their first loss was bad, they were then beaten by Hornets 43-0. But as fate would have it, the Caribs would then go on to beat the Hornets in their final game 17-5 which propelled them to the championship.
Meanwhile as expected the men’s tournament was very highly competitive since it featured some of the country’s best rugby players some of whom were a part of the victorious Caribbean Sevens championship team.
The Pepsi Hornets featured two teams but it was the ‘A’ team which included Satesh Samaroo, Ryan George, Troy Arjune, Peabo Hamilton and Albert La Rose that took home the winning team trophy.
Playing the opening game in the men’s division, the GDF brushed aside the Hornets ‘B’ but in the second game of the day which was by far the most exciting, it was shown what happens when the country’s best players meet.
The Yamaha Caribs featuring Guyana and West Indies captain Claudius Butts and the powerful Theodore Henry met with the Hornets ‘A’ team. So intense was the game that at the end a winner wasn’t decided as the two teams played to a 7-7 draw.
But the Hornet ‘A’ side weren’t easy on their ‘B’ side humiliating them 45-0 while the Caribs were out classed by the GDF 7-15 in their clash with the army men.
The Caribs rebounded to beat the Hornets ‘B’ 17-10 but the star studded Hornets ‘A’ team was crowned champions when they defeated the GDF 29-0.
For his superb run in the competition, Samaroo was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) while Careem Skeete of the Yamaha Caribs was the MVP of the women’s competition.
After the game President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Noel Adonis thanked the players for producing a day of high quality rugby and also applauded the GDF women’s team for being competitive in their first outing in the Sevens format of the Game.
The trophies for the tournament were donated by Mike’s Pharmacy and Roberts’ Jewelry.
