– Giles injured, Butts steps down as captain, vice captain Staglon unavailable
By Kiev Chesney
UK player Rupert Giles is currently nursing an ankle injuryFormer vice captain Richard Staglon will not be with the team for this year's tournament
Guyana’s national rugby sevens side, the Mighty Jaguars, are already the underdogs for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series to be held in Las Vegas Nevada U.S.A., where they are one of the four wildcard contenders.
Having to face 14 of the top rugby sevens nations in the world, all ranked l6 or less on the IRB ranking, is already a tough task, considering that Guyana is ranked at number 65. However, ten days prior to the tournament, the team was still without its technical director Spencer Robinson, Claudius Butts has stepped down as captain, and the overseas-based Rupert Giles is currently injured.
To add insult to injury, the team had already been missing three of its best players — Albert La Rose, Kevin Mackenzie and Dwayne Schroeder – three players in last year’s tournament who were suspended because of indiscipline after the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
In last year’s tournament, when Guyana competed as a nation for the first time, (as opposed to a few players in the Rugby West Indies team), they did not manage to win any of their games, but held world number six, France, to a 12-12 draw.
Nevertheless, president of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Christopher ‘Kit’ Nascimento, vice president Robin Roberts and chairman of the selections committee, Mike Mc Cormack, were all optimistic that the Mighty Jaguars would perform well in spite of the obstacles they face this year.
Giles Injured
The GRFU announced a 12-man squad that has been confirmed to travel yesterday, but a recently sustained ankle injury to Loughborough College’s Rupert Giles may force the union to add another player to the team. Giles reportedly sustained the injury after the GRFU had purchased his ticket, so, at that point, the union has it’s fingers crossed that he would be ready for the tournament.
Nascimento said that Giles, who arrived last Saturday, has not yet practised with the team, since he is receiving treatment for the injury which, according to Nascimento, is “healing rapidly”. The GRFU official said that Giles will have to be assessed in the next few days to see if he is fit to take the field.
If he is not fit, he will still travel with the team, since his ticket has already been paid for, but he will not play. However, the GRFU said, they would be looking to send one of the reserves along with the team, which would cost them close to US$2000. Finding that additional money poses a major challenge for the union, and they are currently appealing to the government and corporate stakeholders to pitch in.
Delayed TD
Meanwhile, newly appointed technical director Spener Robinson, delayed for several days arrived in Guyana after being “bounced about” airports in the U.S.A.
Robinson, who coached Canada’s national sevens team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, was appointed last month to replace former Rugby West Indies coach Joe Whipple who had been with Guyana’s team for the past two seasons.
