Third loss for ‘Green Machine’, but all is not lost

Guyana’s senior national men’s rugby team, the ‘Green Machine’, suffered its third straight loss in the Hong Kong Sevens, but put up a better performance scoring-wise than the previous two games. The Guyanese lose 14-50 to Uruguay in their final game, but their 14 points were more than double what they got in the two earlier matches.

Against Uruguay, Guyana actually had a 14-12 lead heading into the second half, but suffered two yellow cards, which had the unit playing with just five men on the pitch for seven minutes. Uruguay took advantage of the situation, outscoring Guyana 38-0 in the half.

Captain of the team, Ryan Gonsalves, told News Room Sport that the game was much better than the score-line suggested. Gonsalves also mentioned that it was good “experience” for the guys and more tournaments at such level are needed for the team to improve.

Guyana had lost to Spain 47-5 with Avery Corbin scoring the lone try for the national ruggers in the game. The guys clad in their traditional green threads had the world-class, pace but simply lacked the extra bursts and physicality of the teams they played against.

Guyana’s second loss came against Papua New Guinea with a 31-5 margin as Patrick King scored the country’s lone try in that match. The squad will return from Hong Kong on Tuesday.