Green Machine back in business for RAN 7s Championships

…GRFU pleading for Task Force approval to train together

The ‘Green Machine’ will be back in action later this month as the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Championships Men’s 7s gets underway.
In anticipation thereof, the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), on Thursday morning during a press briefing at the National Racquet Centre, named a 12-man team that will make up the feared ‘Green Machine’ later this month.
The RAN’s Championships will be hosted in the Turks and Caicos Islands over the weekend of October 16 and 17.

Senior Vice President Joshua Griffith revealed the members of the travelling teams, which comprises experience and youth.
“The team will be led by its dynamic captain Jamal Angus, along with Senior players Godfrey Broomes, Osei McKenzie, Rondel McArthur, Fabian Joseph, Lancelot Adonis, Peabo Hamilton and Avery Corbin. Also in the team are newcomers to the sevens teams Oneil Charles and Jonathan Garnett, who have both made the 15s team prior. Debutants Lionel Holder and Tyrese Prescod complete the 12-man squad,” Griffith announced.
The total expenses of the trip have been set at some US$39,000, with the GRFU still expecting support from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport among other stakeholders to reach their target.
“The GRFU wishes to appeal to the Government and Corporate Guyana to support the Green Machine on our journey to success; as the Green Machine has done so 8 times prior,”
Meanwhile, preparations are going full steam ahead, with Head Coach Theodore Henry sharing that he is content with their prep, given the circumstances.
Henry shared, “The team has been in training for just over 3 months thus far, and right now I could honestly say that I’m 90% comfortable with the preparation that we’ve had so far. I would have liked for us to at least have a couple more quality practice games against some good opposition, but given the circumstances and what we had to work with, I’m fairly comfortable with it.”
Public Relations Officer Godfrey Broomes took the opportunity to plead with the National COVID-19 Task Force, so that they can have a holistic training session.
“We would have written three letters to the COVID-19 Task Force to actually approve training as a group, and we have not gotten any response from them. And I’m talking about two months ago we would have written to the Task Force.
“To date, we haven’t gotten that approval to train as a team, but we would have been training the best we can in adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines,” Broomes revealed.
The Guyanese team has been drafted in Group C, with Bermuda, Belize and Curacao. The team will travel with Manager George David and therapist Akeem Fraser. The team is expected to depart on October 13 and return on October 18.