Cayman’s rugby teams competed against squads from seven countries in the 2023 Rugby Americas North (RAN) Men’s U19 and Senior Women’s XVs Tournament, held 12-16 July at the University of West Indies’ Mona Bowl in Jamaica.
Playing against 15-a-side teams from USA South (a team representing the southeastern United States), Jamaica, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman’s senior women’s team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, finishing fourth overall in their tournament. In the men’s bracket, Cayman’s U19 team placed fifth in the rankings, behind USA South, Jamaica, Bermuda, and Trinidad and Tobago, thanks to a resounding victory over Guyana in the final game of their tournament.
Senior women take fourth place after narrow loss to Mexico
On 13 July, Cayman’s senior women fell to Mexico and the reigning champion USA Rugby South in their opening two games before battling to an improved performance in a 32-12 loss to Trinidad and Tobago the following day.
Women’s team head coach Katy Bayles said that despite knowing her team was set to face “the four toughest sides in the region” at the tournament, there was a degree of confidence fuelled by Cayman’s technical and tactical improvements since last year’s tournament. Bayles admitted that her squad was frustrated not to capitalise on chances against Mexico and struggled to find their rhythm against USA South but said that the team “showcased [their] work rate and dynamic playing style” against Trinidad and Tobago in a confidence-boosting performance.
The confidence boost worked. In their next game, a must-win against Jamaica, Cayman’s women combined a dominant scrum and kicking accuracy with try-saving tackles and try-scoring breaks from inside their own 22 to win 13-8. As well as securing Cayman a spot in the bronze-medal match against Mexico on finals day, that victory also marked the first Cayman women’s win over Jamaica in the 15-a-side format.
“Every player delivered their best performance in a Cayman shirt in a tight, extremely physical battle,” Bayles said of the team’s encounter with Jamaica.
While a 15-11 loss following a late surge from Mexico in the third-place play-off on 16 July meant Cayman had to settle for fourth place overall, Bayles reiterated her pride in the team’s “exceptional level” of performance.
“This tournament has highlighted all of the progress that we have made over the last year, both with regards to individual ability and game understanding and team systems,” Bayles added.
USA South went on to win the women’s tournament, beating Trinidad and Tobago 30-0 in the gold-medal match.
Big win over Guyana secures fifth place for men’s U19 team
Day one of RAN 2023 proved a difficult one for Cayman’s U19 men’s team, who lost four players to injury during defeats against Trinidad and Tobago and USA South on 12 July.
Despite having a depleted squad for the remainder of the tournament – Cayman were down to 17 players, meaning only two subs were available for the 15-a-side team – the men’s team then scored the only try of the game in a 9-7 loss to Bermuda on 13 July, in which their opponent’s narrow victory was the result of three penalties.
“A bit more experience and ability to adjust to how the game is being reffed could prevent some of the penalties against us and see us with a podium finish next time,” said Edward Westin, the Cayman Rugby Football Union’s youth development manager and men’s U19 coach.
After a solid defensive effort in a second loss to eventual champions USA South – who retained their gold medal from last year’s tournament after beating Jamaica 18-15 in the final – Cayman closed out their tournament with a 52-0 rout of Guyana in the fifth-place decider.
Westin praised a “full team effort” in his team’s final game, which proved to be the highest-scoring match of the entire tournament.
“We have a great base to build from, and enormous potential in this team,” Westin said, explaining that only two players – Alex Fox and captain Freddie Robson – would move on to senior team rugby next year, with the rest of the team remaining eligible for Cayman’s U19s.
“Being able to represent Cayman U19s the past two years has been an absolute pleasure,” Fox added. “The region will soon see what Cayman rugby is capable of.”
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