By Treiston Joseph
The Guyana national rugby squad better known as the “Green Machine” battled it out to a tough 23 – 5 win against Jamaica in the Rugby Americas North 15s Championship on Saturday at the National Park rugby field.
While the score suggested a blowout, it was a tough and physical match-up between the two squads in muddy conditions.
Nevertheless, it was Jamaica who drew first blood in the horrendous conditions, to put Guyana on the back foot with a try in the third minute of the match to go up 5-0.
Guyana then put the pedal on the floor to score 23 unanswered points by having a very compact pack while using their speed on the wings to attack the defence of the Jamaicans, that lagged a bit in the conditions despite showing bursts of great speed.
Ryan Gonsalves 33rd minute penalty would start the scoring run which was soon followed by Lancelot Adonis try in the 39th minute to send the “Green Machine” into the halftime break with an 8-5 advantage.
Guyana tightened their defence in the second half allowing no points from the Jamaicans, while the introduction of Patrick King and Godfrey Brooms in the second half paid immediate dividends, as Ronald Mayers would score two minutes on resumption of the second half in the 42nd minute.
King would go onto score Guyana’s next two tries on both the left and right wings in the 51st and 75th minutes to close out the game for Guyana.
Guyana will face Trinidad and Tobago in an away fixture in mid-June; a clash that will decide the winner of the South Zone division.
