The Cayman Islands men’s under-19 rugby squad defeated Mexico 15-7 this morning in their opening match of the 2022 Rugby Americas North 12s tournament.
Prior to the match, Edward Westin, Cayman’s rugby youth development manager, said Mexico would be the team’s toughest challenge for the tournament, held in Kingston, Jamaica.
However, his team dominated the defending champions from start to finish.
After the match, Westin told the Cayman Compass that he was proud of his squad for executing their game plan.
“I’m pretty happy with the results,” he said. “The guys went out and did a great job, everyone stepped up and performed as a team, and our backline was great with keeping the vision.”
Cayman’s first five points against Mexico came when Cameron Sinclair pushed his way over the try line just five minutes into the match. Teammate Tom Byrne was successful with the conversion, putting Cayman up 7-0.
Later in the first half, the local boys were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute, which Byrne converted again to increase the lead to 10-0.
Early in the second half, Mexico gained their first try and conversion, but Cayman eventually scored their second try, courtesy of Robert Eyers, to close the game 15-7.
While the win continues to be celebrated by many local rugby fans and parents, the team can’t rest on its laurels just yet, as Westin said the players are turns their attention to the remainder of the matches.
This afternoon, Cayman takes on Bermuda, at 4pm local time.
“We still have a big game ahead, against Bermuda,” Westin said. “We are looking at the other teams, but I know we can challenge any team here after winning against Mexico. Looking forward to the rest of the tournament.”
The games, broadcast by Sportsmax TV, can be viewed here.
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Congratulations and very well done to the Cayman u19’s XV ! Now go well and win the tournament!
John Gibson (Gibbo) in Scotland.