Cayman team takes down Bermuda

CRFU): The weather cleared on Saturday 1 June to allow the Cayman Rugby Football Union to put on a great show for over 1700 spectators at Cayman Big Game 3 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in George Town. 

With action starting at 12pm thanks to exhibition matches from the Cayman U10’s, U12’s and U14’s the title fight between the top ranked Caribbean side Bermuda (2011 & 2012 NACRA Caribbean Champions) vs. Cayman kicked off at 4pm in front of a packed Truman Bodden Stand.

Cayman opened the scoring through fullback and LIME man of the match Chris Bunce when good phase play resulted in an easy overlap for Bunce to jog in the opening 5 points which were duly converted by Morgan Hayward totake the score to 7-0.

Bermuda had the opportunity to notch up 3 points soon thereafter with a kickable penalty which was sent well wide of the posts by Antonio Perincheif, a mistake which Cayman scrum half Robbie Cribb was sure not to mistake when he lined up 2 long range penalties to extend Cayman’s lead.

A change in kicking personnel for Bermuda saw them notch up 9 points against Cayman for infringements at the breakdown but the points from the boot were Bermuda’s only reprieve in the first half as the Cayman’s defense held out against the Bermudan pack and speedy wingers.

HALF TIME: Cayman 13-9 Bermuda.

Whilst both Cayman and Bermuda had lost to USA Rugby South in this year’s Championships Cayman were set on ensuring that mistakes made against the USA which resulted in a 2 point loss would not be repeated against Bermuda. Cayman continued to make inroads against a Bermudan defense which bled 24 points to USA Rugby South through sniping runs from Cayman winger Joel Clark and no. 8 Phil Fourie but Cayman failed to finish off promising runs to add more points against the Bermudans.

A change of front row personnel brought fresh legs onto the park as Cayman looked to a drive over scrum from 5 meters out and whilst the first attempt led to the ball being held up over the try line by Bermuda the 2nd attempt led to a penalty try for Cayman as Bermuda collapsed the scrum against a dominant Cayman pack.

With Morgan Hayward converting the penalty Cayman had breathing room as the score board moved 20-9 in favor of Cayman.

Whilst many expected the game to wind down from that point Bermuda came back strong in the final exchanges and a fortunate ball which popped from the side of a ruck allowed Bermuda scrum half Tom Healy to cross the line for Bermuda’s only try of the game (the conversion missed) and the celebrations started as clock wound down and Cayman won by 6 points.

FULL TIME: Cayman 20-14 Bermuda

The win for Cayman over Bermuda saw a climb of 4 places in the IRB world rankings to 61, whilst the loss for Bermuda saw that union fall 6 places to 54. Bermuda’s 2nd straight loss in this year’s Championships sees them relegated to the qualifying rounds of the Northern Caribbean division for 2014 to face off against Jamaica, Bahamas and Mexico.

Photo:

The victorious Cayman XV:
Back Row L-R: Tim Rossiter (Coach), Brad Cowdroy (Coach), Shaun Gerard, Yohann Regnard, Dan Bond, Seviri Tabuaniwere, Peter de Vere, Ben McDonald (Capt.) Mick Kehoe, JS de Jager, Paul Parker, Doug Anderson, Adam Keenan, Phil Fourie, Stuart Geddes (Manager)
Front Row L-R: Michael Sumares, Robbie Cribb, Morgan Hayward, James Waters, Joel Clark, Chris Kennedy, Jon Murphy, Chris Bunce, Michael Wilson, Jason Scarff, Simon Crompton