TT men’s, women’s team impress at RAN 7s opener

The tournament lived up to its expectations as it filled the St Mary’s Ground, St Clair with action- packed matches which commenced around 10 o’clock yesterday morning.

The Trinidad and Tobago Women Rugby 7s team, commonly known as ‘The Scarletts’, flocked the field and started their campaign with a 12-0 win over Guyana, followed by a 27-0 trashing of the Dominican Republic and secured the top spot of their group at the day’s end by outplaying the Bahamas 24- 7.

Carlton Felix, coach of ‘The Scarletts’, gave an insight as to how he thought the day’s activities progressed.

“(Yesterday) went really well not only because we managed to win all our games but also in seeing the team execute instructions and roles that was asked of them before the game and also what we worked on in training.” A calm Felix stressed that while his team were not too troubled on the first day of the tournament, there is no room for complacency as he is aware that these things can change drastically today.

“Defensively we were really good and we just need to show a little more composure to take control of the games. Also, finishing the day atop the group adds as a motivator as it builds the excitement heading into the final day,” expressed Felix.

Fly Half for ‘The Scarletts’, Nicolette Pantor, transferred her spirits after feeling the brunt of some challenges by stating, “overall the team had a great performance, now its time to head back to the hotel, recuperate from the knocks that we may have to nurse and discuss the day events (both the positive and negative aspects), and I am quite confident that we can come out (today) and finish the job.” The Scarletts would take on Mexico in their first game today as both teams would battle for the number one spot in the group.

The men’s team had the easier of the two in terms of the matches played but the squad gave the visitors a reason to fear the hosts as they trounced St Vincent by a margin of 52-0 in their first match.

In their only other match-up yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago men’s team saw the difficulty level raise as they were caught in a tight, hard- fought battle against Mexico as both teams left everything on the field. Even though mistakes were evident from both teams, it was the local team who pulled through and brought jubilation to the home crowds as they managed to rally to a 12-10 victory.

Trinidad and Tobago ended atop of the group with six points followed by Mexico on four points and St Vincent rallying up the table on two points. Trinidad and Tobago would face Bermuda in their first match today of RAN 7s as the tournament is set to resume at 8.30 am.