GRFU’s participation in Rugby Americas North Championships extremely important

Sep 09, 2017 Sports

By Calvin Chapman
The upcoming Rugby Americas North (RAN) championships which will be held from November 24 – 26 in Mexico will see seven-time Men’s champions Guyana competing and the championship will also serve as the qualifiers for several international Sevens championships in 2018.
The first and most important is the World Rugby (WR) previously the International Rugby Board (IRB), Sevens World Cup qualifiers that will be hosted in San Francisco from July 20-22, next. The winners of the RAN tournaments (Male and Female) will qualify.
Secondly, the winners of the RAN championships in Mexico will qualify for the Commonwealth championships in Australia from July 13-15, 2018. Thirdly, the top 4 male and female teams will qualify for the Central American and Caribbean Games that Colombia will host from August 3-19, 2018.
Another added bonus is that the top two men’s teams from the RAN Championships in Mexico will qualify for the World Series’ annual Hong Kong Sevens while the top two women’s teams will qualify for the Atlanta Sevens.
As a result of the stakes involved, it is extremely important that Guyana’s men’s and women’s teams participate in the 2017 Rugby Americas North Championships. Head of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Peter Green, commented:
“The Government of Guyana (GOG) and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) must rally and ensure Guyana is allowed to continue their world class showing by being funded. The costs are billed at around G$7.5 million per team comprising of 15 persons each. Both teams will carry a total cost G$15 million.”
Green, speaking with Kaieteur Sport further related that, “The GRFU has commenced several fund raising ventures and are appealing to the nation to rally around its ruggers, both male and female”, with the goal of qualifying for the above mentioned events, the local rugby boss lamented.
There will also be a change of the guard as the GRFU grafts fresh young blood into the starting line ups with several of the sterling but aging sevens warriors are set to be rested. The GFRU leader stated that he has a direct plan of action that will take local rugby to the Tokyo Summer Games, “I will be appealing to the GOG and the corporate sector as well as the GOA since Rugby 7s is an Olympic Sport and I will present a comprehensive plan on the pathway to the 2020 Olympics, next week. That plan commences with the RAN Championships in Mexico.”
Meanwhile, local Rugby continues with a third consecutive week of action as the Bounty Farm 15s commences this afternoon at the National Park Track and Field pitch with one 80-minute long game from 16:00hrs.
The game will be contested between Police Falcons and current 7s champions Panthers. Matches will continue tomorrow at the same venue and time when the Guyana Defense Force scrums against Yamaha Caribs.
The Bounty Farm 15s will serve as the launching platform to ensure as many players as possible are given the opportunity to show their skills as the GRFU prepares for the RAN Championships in Mexico, this November.

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