Saint Lucia’s national women’s rugby team starred at the French West Indies Sevens tournament, which was held in Gosier, Guadeloupe.
The women returned from the competition with the Monique Ribeaut Shield, while Makeba Alcide took home the top individual honours.
The Saint Lucia women dominated the hosts, Union Good Luck 972 A, winning 19-7 in the final. Alcide, along with captain Renatta Reynolds, controlled the game. Alcide produced two tries, Mary Roberts had one, and Kera Dornelly made two conversions.
In the semifinal, Roberts, Alcide, Marline Cherry, and Allana Paul all scored in a 22–0 win over Diamante Martinique. On the opening day, the Saint Lucia women beat Good Luck 972 33-5, behind a Renatta Reynolds hat trick, two tries from Roberts, and a sixth from Shammah Philgence.
They also thrashed RCAS 41–7, with Roberts scoring a hat trick, Reynolds scoring two tries and having two conversions, while Cherry added a sixth try.
“These victories highlight the preparation, fitness, and attacking strength of the Saint Lucia Women’s team as they made a strong statement in the tournament,” said Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union technical director, Wayne Pantor.
“The women’s championship victory highlights the continued rise of Saint Lucia rugby, while the senior men’s competitiveness and youth development efforts signal a strong future for the sport.”
In other results, the senior men’s team finished fifth, and the Under-20 men’s development team ended eighth.
The senior men lost narrowly to RCL, 12–15, after leading 12–5 at the break. Saint Lucia bounced back to defeat Good Luck 2 22–12, despite trailing 10–12 at the half. They then lost a keenly contested match 15-14 to Jockers in their third match, despite leading 14–5 at halftime.
The youth team lost 36-0 to the Good Luck senior team, lost 27-12 against Batsruc, and were blanked 47-0 by Archibald.
With standout play from Alexis among the senior men and Dante Asson for the Under-20’s, Pantor noted that most of the team had not been exposed at this level before, as this tournament was preparation for higher tiers of competition. The women’s team included three development players from the SLRFU Youth Academy.
