Home-side stands strong in Rugby Barbados World 7

Barbados wrapped up one of their better showings in recent times in international competition when the curtain came down on the 2019 Rugby Barbados World 7’s. Playing over Friday and yesterday at Kensington Oval, the hosts put in some solid performances to stun several teams in the competition.

Although they did not come away champions, the Barbados JetBlues won three of their five games rather handsomely to show that their was some light at the end of the tunnel. On Friday, their first encounter saw them taking out St. Lucia, 27-7 before flogging the Dead Pelicans, 29-5. Their last game on Friday saw them going down 19-7 against eventual champions, Atlantis.

Yesterday’s action began with Barbados losing narrowly to Roots Rugby with a 14-12 scoreline. Their last match saw them trampling the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force to a 40-12 result. The JetBlues were off the mark first with a try from David Burke while 17 year-old D’eandre Phillips comfortably converted to see the Bajans up to 7-0. The visitors equalised after a try and conversion of their own.

However, Barbados was feeling the energy and Luca Brathwaite broke away and ran all the way with Phillips – securing another conversion to tilt the scales at 14-7. Simeon John also made a good run for a third try but this time Phillips could not make good on the kick to see Barbados lead 19-7 at the break.

Going the other way, David Stoute racked up a fourth and Phillips was good on the conversion for 26-7. Sean Ward and Phillips brought home another seven points before Trinidad and Tobago would score again. However, it would only be five points as they failed to capitalise on the conversion. Ward and Phillips wrapped up the show with a try and conversion as they made the 40-12 finish look easy.

Speaking to members of the media after their last game of the day, Coach Joe Whipple said that he was pleased with the performance noting that they had started two 17 year-olds and an 18 year-old in the line-up. “We are by far the youngest team out here and so it speaks well. The young boys did a good job and I thought our tackling was spot-on – we made a lot of tackles – and we want to improve our defence and we did that. It is a good team and it is progressing and it’s getting younger so that’s a positive sign,” he said.

Going on to say that performances like this could only augur well for the future of the sport in Barbados, Whipple said that due to the solid 7s programme run by the Barbados Rugby Football Union as well as the Get Into Rugby programme running in schools, things looked bright. “I think that if they have got these kind of role models to look up to, it speaks well. This is not a game for everybody but it’s a game for all sizes and all shapes. You gotta want to put a little more work in and those are the kind of boys we have.”

Noting that there was a massive restructuring taking place since 2016, Whipple said that the only way to go from here was up. “It’s a progression. It takes time to build skills and you need so many tournaments to get better. It’s like any sport – the more you play, the better you get. You have to develop those skills and it takes time. It’s a pass and catch game and there is a lot of stuff going on. I think we are just starting to get into a nice little space and this is really our development squad. We have some other players playing at university and playing overseas, so when we put it all together, we are in a pretty good place. We are playing like a team and that’s the key.”

Coming to coach in Barbados in 2013 after running the West Indies and Guyana, Whipple said he expected great things from the young team in 2020. “I think we are going to have a good year! We’re going in the right direction and if the guys can stay with the team concept and keep working hard – we’re not a terribly big team but we are pretty quick and we have to use that as our asset. I think we got a real chance to be sitting around the top part of Caribbean in the Rugby Americas North tournament next year. It is a really good opportunity for us. I know a lot of players from the other sides and I know the teams quite well and I think this is a side, if it wants to, can get to the top,” he said.

With Atlantis winning the Men and Roots Rugby finishing second, all eyes were on the Women’s final where a top prize of $20,000 was up for grabs. When the dust had settled, American Rugby Pro Training Centre raised the championship trophy as they beat Rugby Quebec 19-12.