Guyana’s rugby team ready to tackle Bajans on Saturday

As the road to World Cup qualifying begins for the national rugby team, the first test will be overhauling the visiting Barbados side on Saturday at the National Park Rugby Field.

Richard Staglon
Richard Staglon

Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference, captain of the team, Richard Staglon, said he is optimistic of the side’s chances of securing a victory because of the blend of experience and youth.
Staglon said, “I think we stand a good chance of winning, with the blend of youth and experience players; we have new coach who has bringing new ideas and adding lots of excitement among the players and the guys are gelling and have been playing good rugby so far.”

President Peter Green (seated second left) with some members of the team and other GRFU officials
President Peter Green (seated second left) with some members of the team and other GRFU officials

Coach of the team, Larry Adonis, explained that preparation has being going well, but most importantly, their tactics would need to be on point to secure a victory.
“We want to play more in their half because Barbados have a way of bringing somebody from England who kicks it on our half and keeps us pinned, so we want to try to keep it in their half as much as possible”, Adonis explained.
Peter Green, President of the Guyana Ruby Football Union (GRFU), explained that the mistakes of the past will not occur again and the main ultimatum is to top the group.
“We don’t intend to make [the] mistake that [we] did last year when we lost by two points. Once we have cleared these hurdles, Guyana will be facing the winner of the North Zone; at the moment, Mexico is number one team in the North Zone,” Green noted.
Green added because the Mexicans are ranked higher than Guyana, they will have to travel to play in Mexico once they top their group.
The President also made a strong call for persons to desist from utilising the field, especially during the rainy seasons, as it creates “lumps” on the field that can be extremely hazardous to players’ limbs.
After playing Barbados on Saturday, their next encounters are against Jamaica on May 21 and Trinidad on June 19.
The rankings for this year show that Trinidad is the top ranked team, followed by Mexico and Guyana. Scrum-off time is 16:00h.