National XV's and club select rugby

Costa Rica Tour

By Peter de Vere

For any Rugby Club there are a select few social highlights to the year... The Players Dinner, The League Final... but for many like myself the highlight of the year is the end of season tour!

Whilst a dinner jacket really has no place on a tour and a tour should (hopefully) last longer than 80 minutes... The end of season tour encompasses all the social events in one! The tours represent one last chance for players and club members alike to come together and let off steam in some far flung location and enjoy a social game of Rugby and a beer (or two).

Day 1

34 tourists travelled to Costa Rica full of excitement and giddiness... some of us had been to Central America before... others had only read about it! We were up early and off to Miami to catch connecting flights to San Jose and who could have believed it... we made it without any problems!

Costa Rica is a huge tourist destination... at any given time there are over 1 million tourists in the country... but for 3 days the focus of the Country was to be on 34 men from the Cayman Islands.

On arrival in Costa Rica the slightly inebriated tourists (thanks to free flowing bloody marys on American Airlines) were a little shocked to find a full page article in “the Tico Times” which, in no simple terms said that the Costa Rican National side were looking for blood having been defeated by the Bermuda Police Rugby Club only a week earlier. The Caymanian team represented an attractive scalp to take considering our high world ranking in the region.

The Costa Ricans, still looking for IRB ranking wanted vindication! Whilst the thought dawned on the team that we may have walked into a gun fight with only a knife in hand, spirits remained high... and spirits certainly peaked when we arrived at our hotel to find that we had a ‘Hooters’ on our doorstep!

Day 2

Early Saturday morning, the tourists woke up bleary eyed and hesitant about what was to come.  We were not afforded a much needed lie in because there was a scheduled juniors game in our honour but for unknown reasons the game never went ahead!  Instead, the make shifts posts were erected on the incredibly hard soccer pitch and the warm up for the big game started... whilst the pitch markings were made last minute! 

The scheduled referee, like the Juniors was also a no-show so our very own Brad Cowdroy put down his beer and took the whistle in hand to ref the game. 

From the start Cayman asserted their dominance but it wasn’t long before the players realised they were playing well above their usual altitude of 5 feet above sea level... (San Jose is some 1200 meters above sea level!).

Short of breath but still fighting, the Cayman Pack drove 20 meters from a line out for Richard Grasby to put the ball down for the first try.

The celebrations were short-lived when after another series of good forward interlinking the back line was unleashed only for Bluey Hannon to give away a rare interception to the Costa Rican South African centre who ran in a 50 meter try.

Cayman soon bounced back and it wasn’t long before a healthy lead was built thanks in no part from the young speedy Caymanian wingers Darein Montague and Justin Vasquez. However the first half was to be marred by the departure of Bryan Little who was tackled in the air as he fought to make a try saving catch in the Cayman try area. Bryan was left in a sling for the rest of the trip nursing a very painful shoulder but thanks to shoulder surgery expert Graham Peck and his very own collection of incredibly strong pain killers Bryan was back to his jovial self soon enough, even if his happiness was chemically induced!

Cayman went into the 2nd half with a 15 point lead and saw that lead slowly decrease and nearly broken on 2 occasions, but thanks to the keen eye of Referee Cowdroy, the dropped ball and the foot in the dead ball area were spotted! The game ended with Cayman the victors 20-15. Cayman were thankful for the win but knew that the Costa Rican’s deserved more for their efforts.

DAY 3

After an evening of celebrating with our hosts and touring the city streets of San Jose under the protection of the Borat and the Caped Crusader we awoke on Sunday morning wondering what to do with our last day in the wonderful country of Costa Rica... factions were split between Zip-lining in the canopies of the Costa Rican Jungle or a trip to what was described by Larry Cayaso as a “Lake with waterfalls, a bar and live bands...”  clearly those with the largest hangovers chose the latter... much to their disappointment! Whilst the Zip-liners had to do some uphill trekking in unsuitable footwear the result was breathtaking! High speed zip-lining through the Forrest should not be missed!

The ‘lake’ or Ojo de Agua as it’s known on the other hand should be avoided... it turned out to be a manmade water park for kids... Larry later confessed that it was the place to be 30 years ago... but things had clearly changed since then!

THE JOURNEY HOME

We were torn when we loaded our bags into the busses for the journey to the Airport. We had made many friends, seen fantastic sights and enjoyed truly great times together! A tear welled up in my eyes as I waved goodbye to Hooters... and Jackie... but it was time to make our way home!

I will forever remember San Jose every time I put a bottle of Imperial to my lips or watch Batman cartoons with my nephews...

As a final thought, I honestly recommend Costa Rica as not only a Rugby Tour destination but as a holiday destination in general. Everyone we met was friendly and happy to help us, even if they couldn’t understand Brad’s Australian accent!

Thank you to the Costa Rican Rugby Union, Hooters and Graeme for a wonderful tour!

Cayman defeated Costa Rica 20 - 15 with tries from Richard Grasby, Mike Hawkins, James Alt and Ben McDonald

Cayman takes series 2 - 1

And what a game it was. Browns came out full of vim and vigor and had Cayman on the backfoot early in the game as the Cayman team looked to establish some rythm. The Cayman pack dominated the day with relentless grinding rucking and tough aggressive defense. The Browns backs looked dangerous early on and found a few gaps to apply pressure. In the 26th minute Browns scored a penalty goal from 35 meters out in front of the posts. That was followed by a well worked try between the Browns backs and forwards at the 32 minute mark. Half time Browns 8 Cayman 0.

In the second half the Cayman backs finally began to settle and make some strong driving runs as well as start to connect with some well angled inclusions. The pack continued to wear down Browns at the coal face and the balance of the game began to change. The Cayman Line out was appallingly bad so the forwards had to control and maintain all other types of possession which they did well. In the 18th minute of the second half Sean Bacon finished a series of play that had taken the Cayman team 30 meters over some twenty phases diving over the line for the try. At the 24 minute mark Bacon again went over this time from a tap and go penalty after a series of drives from the forward pack that had slowed Browns forwards who were unable to respond, McMillan converted. Ten minutes later Wright scored Cayman's third of the day after a deft run from stand off Bunce and a quick off load. Four minutes later Livingston rounded off the scoring with a straight driving run and short pas from Hannon who drew two defenders before offloading. McMillan converted and Cayman ran out winners 24 - 8.

Match series tied at 1 a piece

Today the full Cayman team will take on the best of the Brown's university team in a winner takes all series finale. After a poor performance from the Cayman reserves on Tuesday the full squad will be keen to show that they can produce. There have been some late changes due to injuries, unavailabilities and training.

The Browns University side have already shown that they are capable of some excellent rugby, are full of heart and while young are a tough, well drilled and experienced beyond their years team. They are well coached and well prepared and this should be an epic game at the SSG 5:15KO TODAY!

Browns University Rhode Island match schedule

Match 1 V Clubs select side Cayman Club Select 36 Browns 10

Match 2 V Cayman World Cup Reserves 12 Browns 15

Match 3 V Cayman World Cup Team Thursday March 27th 5:15pm Kick off

Cayman WC squad V Browns University Thursday March 27th 5:15pm KO

Game 2

The Cayman WC reserve squad took the field with one aim in mind, to play collectively well enough to cause the selectors problems in selecting a 23 man squad for Thursday from the 36 man roster.

In the begginning it almost looked like they would pull it off as well but Browns had other ideas and after a slow start they methodically wore down the Cayman team to equal the series at one win all.

The Cayman team maintained possession for the first 12 minutes of the game and after just 10 minutes Jon Rew scored a try from a line out drive 8 meters from the Browns line which McMillan converted. In the 11th minute Jonathan Doak took a short pass from McMillan on the short side of a scrum at half and broke through to score, the try went uncomverted and Cayman led by 12 points after 12 minutres with Browns not having had a possession.

In the 13th minute and unforced Cayman Error gave Browns their firts possession and three phases later they went in for an unconverted try to bring the score to 12 - 5. The warnig bells should have gone off for Cayman at this point but any urgency was sadly lacking and Cayman continued to move further away from their game structure breaking down into individual performances that failed to ignite any team structure or finality in their construction.

Much of this breakdown was forced by pressure exerted by the young Browns players showinhg experience beyond their years and forcing the pace of the game to the Cayman side. Rather than rising to meet the challenge and impose their own pace many of the Cayman team simply became overwhelmed and the cracks in the structure started to turn into gaping chasms from which no quick band aid repair was possible. The half ended with Cayman leading 12 points to 5.

In the second half the Cayman team had the 20 knot wind at their backs and still had a seven point lead, one might have realistically expected the Cayman side to pressure kick to the corners, attack the opposition line out and scrummage and attack through their back line and forward drives inside the opponents quarter. What happened was wayward and aimless kicking, poor passing, poor scrummaging and line out options and poor driving from the forward pack against a Browns team that had come with one aim in mind..... to win! and win they did scoring two further excellent tries in the second half for 15 un-answered points in total and taking game two 15 - 12 to tie the series with game three set to take place on Thursday 27th at 5:15pm against the full Cayman XV.

Game 1

Cayman Clubs Select took 15 minutes to show anything resembling Cayman Rugby before Ben Blair made a break after a blind side move for the opening try, Blair Converted 7 - 0. After a long period of miss cued open field kicking and unforced passing and handling errors the Cayman team decided to keep the ball in hand against their younger and well drilled counterparts and 15 minutes later Stuart McMillan added a penalty goal from 45 meters out to take the lead to ten. Continuing to keep the ball in hand Cayman were again rewarded with a nice try right on the stroke of the half by Tom Kimball and converted by Brian Little giving the home side a 17 - 0 lead at half.

Browns who were just off the airplane a couple of hours before the kick off settled into their own pattern of play in the second half and applied solid pressure to the Cayman defense time and again, it was Cayman however, somewhat against the run of play, who scored next when Burton picked up a loose ball and ran back some 50 meters to score under the Browns posts some 20 minutes into the second half, Burton converted and Cayman led 36 - 0. When many teams would have packed their bags Browns did exactly the opposite coming back with two tries of their own in the last 20 minutes of the game and outscoring their Cayman counterparts in the second half, both tries were well worked and a result of prolonged pressure from the Browns players who showed that they had the fitness and stamina to out last the Cayman team at the death.

All in all it sets a great platform for Tuesday's match up when many of the Cayman players will be looking to step up their game in front of the National team selection panel who have stated quite plainly "that any players wishing to make the final 26 man squad need to stand out in Tuesday's match", in order to have a chance of making the Thursday team. On Thursday the selction panel will name what it feels is their strongest performing team at the current time. With Browns well rested and having had a couple of days to get their own game and selections sorted out they will be back stronger than Saturday and could cause Cayman some worries unless the Cayman team are at their best.

Tuesday will also be of interest to the National coaching team as the players use many aspects of their new world cup game plan for the first time against foreign opposition. It will be a good opportunity to evaluate which parts of the plan are working and which need more attention before Thursday's match when the coaching staff will hope to see a polished performance  as a result of all the work that has been undertaken so far.

Incoming Tours 2008

Roslyn Park looking to tour Cayman end of May 2008.

National Men's team tour to Costa Rica May 16th - 19th 2008

To play Costa Rica in a test match. Cost CI $750 per person including flight and accommodation at the Marriot Courtyard. CI$100 Deposit due by Jan 10 2008 to Grizz to hold your place Deposits have to be with the airline on the 11th. This tour is open to all members of the Union. Email Grizz techdir@candw.ky   to reserve your spot. all payments are now due

Tour Match Results

Cayman V Bayonne Bombers March 7th 5:15 KO

Cayman beat the Bombers 11 tries to 2 in an excellent display of handling and speed as flyer Kes Wright scores a hatrick. The Bayonne Bombers opened the match with a brace of unanswered tries as the Cayman lads struggled to deal with their physicality and pace of the New York team. As the match wore on the Cayman team started to settle into their work and slowly but surely the flow of the match began to change as the Cayman team took control and turned the screw on the opposition. Bayonne who are after all just starting their playing season after a long New York winter tired as the match went on and nor surprisingly the Cayman players who are nearing the end of their season took full advantage of this to score some excellent tries and entertain the large crowd.

Saturday March 8th Jan and Jaques South African Select XV V rest of the world

This game was a display of handling, pace and physicality as bot teams battered each other almost to a standstill on Saturday. The rest of the world ended up winning the game two tries, one conversion and two penalties 18 points to one try 5 points. The large crowd enjoyed the display put on by the louw's Du Preeze and Bunce as well as the straight running and big tackles of Hannon, Forrest and Wagner. It was an excellent game played bu two very good sides and a great farewell to two talented Rugby players.

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