Cayman is in the midst of preparations for a huge rugby tournament.
The Caribbean Qualifiers for the 2011 Rugby World Cup will be held in Cayman starting Sunday 20 April.
According to Technical Director of the Cayman Rugby Football Union Richard ‘Grizz’ Adams, everything is being done to ensure the Cayman squad is ready for the competition.
‘We’re using the recent games against the Brown University touring side as an indicator to see who can play for the national team and who can’t.
‘About 22 or 23 players will make up the national team. These players will be announced some five days before the start of the qualifiers.’
Currently, the Cayman national team is in intense training. Some 34-35 players are completing drills on different facets of the game three times a week.
The Caribbean qualifiers is the official start of the 2011 RWC Qualifiers.
The South Sound Rugby Club will be the site for some eight teams from across the region – unless it is moved to the Truman Bodden Complex.
Cayman will be one of the first countries in action. The men’s national team face Trinidad and Tobago on 20 April at 10:30am. This game, along with all the tournament games, will be streamed live on the CRFU website.
Cayman has a real chance of beating the Trinis. Cayman are ranked 58th in the world and second in the Caribbean. Trinidad are 57th.
Cayman has competed against many top regional sides to achieve the ranking. Among their feats is beating Bermuda, a top ten side, some four times.
Nevertheless, Adams says the Trinidad game will be tough as the squad offers many surprises.
‘We haven’t played Trinidad since roughly 2002. [The last game we played against them] we lost 10-8.
‘We don’t know Trinidad’s style of play at all. But we are expecting them to have big forwards and fast backs with world-class ability and skill.’
In fact, Adams admits Cayman knows little about the other teams. He said the last time Cayman faced any of the teams was 2005.
Nevertheless, Adams is not worried. He feels Cayman has to take things one game at a time.
‘For us it’s about focusing on the first game. We’re just trying to get through Trinidad right now.’
The North American West Indies Rugby Association, under whose jurisdiction the qualifiers fall, is trying to address preparation issues. Most of the teams have gone forward and stated they faced a great shortage of preparation going into the competition.
In response to these concerns, the organization is in the midst of planning more regional events. Some of the ideas thrown around include annual 15s and sevens tournaments along with a Caribbean league.
Adams is very much in favour of the ideas being discussed by NAWIRA.
‘Hopefully we can host more tournaments on the islands on a permanent basis. Cayman can host a major tournament as we have the facilities to do so.
‘Sports tourism is invaluable to these islands. I hope the long-term effect is there will be more visitors and touring sides.’
The winner of the Caribbean qualifiers goes on to face competition in the next qualifying round.
The qualifiers take place over the next two years in various countries. Some 96 countries will fight to be among the 20 teams that qualify for the World Cup.
Cayman will look to make a long run in the qualifiers
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