Guyana/Trinidad Rugby 15s match cancelled

Guyana’s highly anticipated Rugby Americas North (RAN) 15s clash against Trinidad and Tobago has been officially cancelled.

The match, which was scheduled to kick off today (June 27) at the National Park in Georgetown, was called off after Trinidad and Tobago’s rugby authorities indicated that they would be unable to travel for the fixture.

Guyana Rugby Union (GRU) President Ryan Gonsalves confirmed the cancellation, stating that the visiting side formally notified the union of their inability to make the trip.

Reflecting on the sudden development, a GRFU official noted that no specific explanation was provided for the decision.

“There was no particular reason given by the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Union. They only informed us that they are unable to travel to Guyana at this time,” the official stated, adding that union leadership would be seeking further clarity on the situation.

The cancellation brings an abrupt end to Guyana’s 15s campaign for 2026, denying the “Green Machine” a crucial opportunity to redeem themselves after successive defeats to Bermuda and Barbados.

Despite the setback, the union remains highly optimistic about the foundation being laid with the current squad. “All in all, we are very happy with the performance from the team, even though we didn’t get the win in the last two games,” the official reflected.

“It was evident that we have a young Green Machine team. From those two games, we saw some very solid rugby from the team. They can compete with any of the teams right now in the region, definitely 100% certain about that.”

However, the lack of competitive fixtures remains a major hurdle for the development of the longer format of the game in the region. The union stressed that a mere two international fixtures a year is insufficient to build a truly dominant 15s side.

“They just need some more exposure and game time in 15s. We can’t play two games a year and expect to be on top. We need more games, more international games, especially throughout the year, in order to build your 15s team,” the official explained. Looking back at the narrow losses, there is a strong sense of what could have been.

“It’s tough that we lost those two games, which we pretty much should have won. I do believe that we have a really good side here, a really, really good young side. With more games and more exposure, this same team is going to be one of the most dominant teams in the near future.”

With the 15s season effectively over, the GRFU is swiftly shifting its focus to the shorter format of the game. Attention now turns to preparing both the men’s and women’s national sides for the RAN Sevens tournament coming up in November.

The union is set to shortlist the training squads imminently, beginning a rigorous preparation cycle.

“We are going to be calling the sevens squad shortly for the RAN Sevens, both male and female, so we can start preparations,” the official confirmed. “They are going to be doing some gym sessions and some endurance sessions.”

Domestically, the union also plans to jump-start the local season with a ten-a-side tournament as soon as regional weather conditions permit. “Locally, we are going to commence our 10s rugby.

Despite the waterlogged pitches in Georgetown, the national program’s ultimate goal remains clear and ambitious ahead of the November showpiece.

“We have a lot more rugby to play. We are going to be getting very active once the weather improves and prepare for the RAN Sevens. I’m pretty much certain that we are going to be in the top two, top three teams. We should definitely be in the finals for RAN this year. So that’s our goals.”