Eight visiting teams, and 12 squads in total, contested the third annual Caribcation Carnival Sevens tournament on Saturday, July 27 at the Gros Islet Playing Field. Coming out of Canada, Misfits did the double, winning the men’s and women’s competitions.
According to tournament director and technical director of the Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union (SLRFU), Wayne Pantor, organisers actually had to cap numbers this year, with 24 teams showing interest.
Groups from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Guyana, and Martinique travelled to Saint Lucia, all vying for the first-place prizes of USD $2500.
In the women’s finale, two-time champions Misfits and Roots from the USA were the two class teams. In the title matchup, Misfits went ahead 5-0 thanks to a defensive lapse, but failed to convert. Roots took advantage of a Misfits turnover and made the kick to go ahead 7-5 going into the interval.
Misfits left it till late to win it all, executing a fine, flowing team move to edge ahead 10-7. A second try and conversion just before the final whistle handed a 17-7 victory to the Canadians, completing their three-peat.
The men’s title was decided in another thriller, but the flavour of the drama was different.
Police Falcons from Guyana were flying high early. They scored two tries without reply in the first half, converting both to lead 14-0. Falcons then ran it in again to start the second period, but did not convert.
A nicely worked breakaway got Misfits on the board. From the kickoff, they scored again to make the deficit single figures, 19-10. They scored from the boot to make it 19-12, then scored and converted to tie it up at the death, taking the contest to extra time.
In the additional frame, Misfits completed the comeback, touching down to win 24-19.
“Each year the tournament is building in strength – initially we had 24 teams vying to take part in the tournament, and we had to actually select, give them a deadline for selection, to facilitate them on the field that we have.
The Gros Islet Playing Field, because of the Cricket World Cup, they’ve done some refurbishment on the venue, and it’s been excellent for the sport. The feedback from the teams has been excellent, in terms of the play, the officiating, and some of the teams even came earlier and actually diverged themselves to enjoy the local culture, went to the Sulphur Springs, and so on. So it’s been fantastic.”
Pantor disclosed that the organising committee is hoping to bring the tournament to the Darn Sammy Cricket Ground. He says that the number of teams expected to compete in 2025 will necessitate using a bigger ground, so that two games can be played simultaneously.
Following the day of games in Gros Islet, participating squads took a boat down the west coast to take in Soufrière Carnival.
