TT U-19 rugby men eye RAN title

TT, led by captain Melek Fraser, will play Turks and Caicos on July 16 in their opening match. In TT’s second match they will face either USA South B or Mexico. The other teams aiming to win the title are USA South A, Jamaica, Bermuda and Cayman Islands.

Coach of the TT team Jerome Poon Tip is hopeful his charges can improve on their third place finish.

Yesterday, at a press conference held at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Poon Tip said, “Last year we came third and the year before that we came third, so hopefully this year we can improve and win the tournament.” Poon Tip said small errors cost them a higher placing in the last two tournaments. “Of course we think we could improve. The difference between us coming third and playing for the championship has been one minor mistakes.” Discussing the composition of the team, Poon Tip said, “We have a mix of young and experienced fellas with a couple 16 and 15 year olds on the team. We are looking towards the experienced fellas to help the younger ones.” Poon Tip was reluctant to reveal the top players on the team saying it is a team sport. However, he said captain Fraser is expected to compete at a high level. “One of our star players will be our captain Melek Fraser, and hopefully he will lead by example and experience because this is his third year in the squad.” The team has been preparing for the last six months and was scheduled to have a practice match yesterday.

“We have been preparing since January. We had a practice game every month leading up to the tournament. We have a large practice game this afternoon and we leave on Thursday.”

TT SQUAD: Melek Fraser (captain), Issac Small, Emmanuel Cadette, David Harvey, Jarrel McFarlane, Askari Dawud, Antonio Moore, Romario Harrydath, Michael Gonsalves, Jabari Sandy, Hakeem Espinoza, John Aboud, Wendell Fullerton, Kyle Look Hong, Tariq Daniel, Geddes Phillip, Wayne Garrett, Andrew Lobo, Joshua Hector, Ayub Hassan, Jeron Pantor, Korri Edwards, Marquis Samuel, Isaiah Small, Quentin Lyder-Baptiste (manager), Graham Chin (assistant manager), Jerome Poon Tip (coach), Michael Browner (assistant coach), Derek Ashby, Willet Pantor.