BVI Rugby

The BVI team travelled to Puerto Rico at the weekend for a game against the San Juan Rugby Club. This was the first game of 15 a side rugby that the BVI had played since the loss to Barbados last April and was a chance to blood several new players against a San Juan side who were a mix of local youngsters and experienced Argentine and American players. Naturally as with many BVI away games that the BVI has played over the past 40 odd years the combination of pre match anticipation and player nerves meant that a few drinks were needed to quell the butterflies on the eve of the game. Suffice to say that the bright lights of the Condado and a hospitable welcome from the host team meant that it was a rather hungover BVI team that travelled to Parc Barbosa for the evening kickoff on Saturday.

The game was played under flood lights in wet and windy conditions, and the San Juan team (many of whom were absent from the prior evenings festivities) started the stronger putting pressure on the BVI scrum and competing aggressively at the breakdown area. The BVI not having had a competitive game for almost a year were slow to get into the game and were losing the physical battle around the pitch. After a few heated scrums the introduction of Jeovan Thompson after 20 minutes brought some strength and aggression to the front row, and as San Juan began to tire slightly the BVI came back into the game and began scrapping for the ball. Despite San Juan dominating possession for much of the first half the BVI defence stood firm with Heath Copland and Andre Adams making numerous tackles in the tight. In the backline the half backs Niall Brooks and Will Pridgeon worked well with Tom Chapman and Jon Draper in the centres to ensure San Juan's attacks were kept at bay. The BVI wasted several good field positions in the first half by kicking poorly from hand and it was a great relief when after 25 minutes Donovan Staples intercepted a stray San Juan pass and ran 40 metres for a breakaway try to the relief of the BVI. The conversion was missed by Pridgeon. With the BVI forwards getting into the game and securing good line out ball through Federico Zicari, who was also athletic in the loose, the BVI finished the first half the stronger team. An injury to the San Juan hooker and several further altercations at scrum time meant that after 30 minutes the scrums became uncontested. Subsequently from a scrum fifteen metres from the San Juan line Number 8 Johnny Bailey picked up and shimmied through for a well worked try, with Pridgeon converting the extra two points to bring the BVI into half time with a 12-0 lead. To be fair to hosts the lead did not reflect the balance of play, for the BVI the previous nights indulgencies were out of the system and it was clear that the team was in the middle of a tough game of rugby.

San Juan came out strongly for the second half with their quick back line throwing the ball around and playing some entertaining rugby, this resulted in a quite brilliant try from San Juan's 16 year old winger ten minutes into the half to bring the score back to 12-5 and bring the crowd at the Parc Barbosa to life. San Juan heaped on the pressure and on several occasions Victor Franklyn made last ditch try saving tackles. Franklyn worked tirelessly with wings Jerome Springette and Donavan Staples to negate the attacking threat, and only some big defence on the BVI try line from the forwards prevented another score. Having weathered the storm San Juan began to tire and a penalty goal from Pridgeon eased the pressure taking the BVI's lead to 15-5. The kick itself caused some controversy as whilst BVI touch judge and old boy Barry Mitchell saw the ball sail through the post, the San Juan official disagreed, the referee who performed well throughout the game judged that a San Juan player had shouted during the kick and ordered a re-take which Pridgeon struck through the posts. Towards the last twenty minutes of the game the BVI played some of their best rugby with the forwards surging forward and recycling the ball well. From a series of drives from the BVI pack Andre Adams crashed over for a score and Pridgeon duly converted to take the score to 22-5. During the last ten minutes San Juan gave one final effort and pleasingly for the BVI debutant Melvyn Knight came on as a late replacement and made a couple of strong tackles to quell the danger.

Pleasingly for the BVI the game was an opportunity to blood some new players, some of whom it was the first full game of their rugby career; Adrian Bello O'Neal made several strong tackles and giant Australian Andrew Seeckts was strong with the ball in hand. Irishman Des Wynne made his first start for the BVI as did Jon Draper, Will Pridgeon and promising 16 year old youngster Melvyn Knight. During the post match ceremonies San Juan somewhat quizzically nominated stand in hooker Ronan Kuczaj man of the match, a nomination which should really have been given to either try scoring blindside Andre Adams or open side Heath Copland, both of whom worked tirelessly and were a real nuisance to the Puerto Ricans.

Men's training continues on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 5.30pm - 7.00 pm at the AO Shirley. The focus of training will be preparation for the upcoming visit of George Washington University who will be in the territory for two games on Monday March 12 and Friday March 16. If you want to play in these games then you will need to commit to training, we have 5 weeks to get ready and get fit for what will be a much tougher test. We will also need some assistance from all the club entertaining our visitors.

BVI Squad for match v Puerto Rico

Adrian Bello O'Neal, Andre Adams, Andrew Simmons, Andrew Seeckts, Damian Brown, Des Wynne, Donovan Staple, Federico Zicari, Heath Copland, Jeovan Thompson, Jerome Springette, Jonathan Draper, Jonathan Bailey, Niall Brooks, Ronan Kuczaj, Simon Knight, Tom Chapman, Victor Franklyn Melvyn Knight & Will Pridgeon. Coach; Sherlock Soloman. Manager Dustyn Molver.

BVI Rugby would sincerely like to thank the following sponsors for their support: Digicel, SHRM, Maples, Krys Global, DHL, RTW - Heineken, Dept of Youth Affairs and Sports & The BVI Olympic Committee.