President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Peter Greene, has discussed the recently concluded Americas Rugby Challenge (ARC) 15s and the more-than-familiar position of the GRFU being short of funds as it seeks qualification for the Pan American Games, to be held in Peru 2019.
The claim is being made that the GRFU had submitted its list to the National Sports Commission (NSC) for the 2018/2019 year; but in a recent meet with Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, the GRFU was nowhere listed among the names to receive funding from the Government.
The GRFU seems to be under tremendous financial strain after recently paying a medical bill that amounted to over two million dollars. This strain had implications for the holistic unity of the team, which has both local and overseas-based players competing in the ARC.
Among other members of the GRFU present on Friday at Olympic House were Guyana’s 7s team Captain Dwayne Schroeder and the 15s Captain Ryan Gonsalves.
Gonsalves defended his team even after the horrendous defeats Guyana suffered at the hands of Colombia and Paraguay at the 2018 ARC. His contention is that in the game of rugby, sometimes you win, or come out on the other end.
Gonsalves urges Guyanese fans to support the team even in their time of loss. The captain was confident of a better showing with the current selection, but he said things seemed not to have gone their way on this occasion.
Last year the team had made it to the finals, but this year wasn’t their time, he reasoned. Nevertheless, according to the GRFU boss, the team will bounce back strong with assiduous training.
However, if they do manage to show at the upcoming Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Championships, it is expected that the side would give a good account of itself.
Photo: Dwayne Schroeder
