Saint Lucia places 4th at Rugby Americas North tournament

The national men’s team finished fourth in Tier 2 of the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Tournament at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago. Team Saint Lucia made the semifinals of the competition, despite a heartbreaking last-minute loss to The Bahamas in the group phase, 10-13.  

In that preliminary match, Benerrero Wellington scored for Saint Lucia in the fourth minute, an uncoverted try. The Bahamas levelled the scores at 5-5 at halftime. Saint Lucia regained the ascendancy eight minutes into the second half, through a power run from Claudius Medouze. Again, though, The Bahamas answered with a try of their own. Moments before the final whistle, though, The Bahamas took advantage of a penalty kick to take the lead and the win.

Saint Lucia did, however, earn a November 21 win over the British Virgin Islands, 14-5, with tries from Melvin Alexis and debutant Yantez Jn Baptiste and two conversions from Malyle Cherry. 

Against St Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia prevailed 31-12, with two scores from Alexis, and single markers from Wellington, Jn Baptiste, and Medouze, and conversions from Cherry, Jn Baptiste, and Jesey Francois. 

Also in the group phase, Saint Lucia blanked The Turks and Caicos Islands 12-0. Medouze and Alexis ran tries in, and Medouze added a conversion. 

After placing second in their group, however, Saint Lucia were shut out by Curaçao in the playoffs. A scoreless first half gave way to a flurry of scoring in the second period,and Saint Lucia ultimately fell 0-19. 

That set up a rematch with The Bahamas, who ran out to an 0-12 lead at halftime of the third-place playoff. Saint Lucia roared back through Jn Baptiste, Francois, and Le-Mani Lewis, but they were unable to keep The Bahamas off the scoreboard, finally losing 17-26.