RAN 7s will not scrum off in 2020

Aug 26, 2020 Sports

The stronghold of the Covid-19 in the region tightens its grip and sport has not been immune with event after event being cancelled or postponed indefinitely as time progresses. The latest event to fall victim as the fight against this deadly disease continues is the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament that was scheduled to scrum off later this year.

Ryan Dey – President of GRFU

According to a correspondence from the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), the tournament has been cancelled, owing to the restrictions that countries currently face.
The release indicated that, “With the continued uncertainty and a landscape which is highly likely to change in the coming months leading up to the Sevens in mid-November, RAN EXCO have taken the decision to cancel the Sevens.
“The decision was not taken lightly, however it was made to provide Members with some degree of certainty and to avoid unnecessary training for a tournament that is highly likely not to take place, given the current situation in regards to travel restrictions, high levels of Covid-19 and the imposition of quarantine laws on returning residents, in some of our Member countries.”
The document continued, “RAN EXCO will look, where possible and feasible, to reschedule the Sevens tournaments in 2021, though this will also depend on the scheduling of other regional tournaments, for example the Senior Men’s 15’s tournament.”
Meanwhile, head of the GRFU, Ryan Dey, in an invited comment with Kaieteur Sport, posited that, “It’s no surprise for us that RAN would cancel the tournament due to the pandemic. Hopefully, in 2021 we can have both the 7s and 15s tournaments run off. In the meantime our guys will stay as fit as possible given the circumstances.”
In April, RAN cancelled their 2020 Men’s 15-a-side competition, along with the Women’s 10s and Men’s Under-19 tournament, which was set to take place July 8-12 in Nassau, Bahamas.
The Senior Men’s 15-a-side tournament was to get underway in April and doubled as the first regional qualification round for Rugby World Cup 2023. These matches have now been tentatively postponed to 2021, with further details to be confirmed.
Back then, RAN had said their Sevens competition would’ve been assessed as further developments take place.
Rugby Americas also cancelled the 2020 Under-20 Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) in Montevideo, Uruguay, which included Canada and the USA.