The Cayman Islands national men’s and women’s rugby teams finished gameplay at the Rugby Americas North Sevens Qualifier with mixed results.
The men advanced all the way to the plate final, while the women were knocked out but gained much-needed experience after six years away from international rugby competition.
Both teams returned home on Monday, 25 April, after their matches in Nassau, Bahamas.
In a bid to qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 and the Commonwealth Games 2022, the Cayman men’s team turned in one of their best international performances in recent memory.
The men’s squad opened up with wins over the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, while dropping two games to Mexico and Jamaica, who ended the tournament as the runners-up.
Cayman advanced to the RAN 7s Men’s plate final after beating Trinidad and Tobago 25-7 in the semifinal match. Barbados narrowly defeated Cayman 14-10 in the final.
Women’s recap
Cayman’s women’s rugby squad could not match the men’s success, as they suffered four consecutive defeats.
However, Mercedes Foy, women’s team manager, believes her squad did Cayman proud considering the level of experience they faced.
“Cayman Rugby has been off the [women’s] international scene for six years,” Foy told the Cayman Compass. “Our programme hasn’t even been back running a year,” she said, adding that the team has only been training together for three months. “We learnt so much across the two days and progressed so much as a team.”
The women lost to Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Canada, who won the overall tournament.
“I am so proud of every one of the players [and] coaches,” Foy added. “Special congratulations to Molly Kehoe and Schmarrah McCarthy for scoring… Cayman women’s rugby is back, and we are here to stay. This is just the beginning.”
Next on the Cayman Rugby international schedule is the RAN 12s in Kingston, Jamaica this July.
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