Bermuda frustrate Guyana in 9-5 victory

A damp afternoon at the National Park saw Guyana’s ‘Green Machine’ fall to a frustrating 9-5 defeat against Bermuda, as the visitors capitalised on a series of technical errors to kick-start their Rugby Americas North (RAN) XVs campaign with a gritty victory.

Despite sitting four places higher in the World Rugby rankings at 70th, Guyana struggled to convert territorial dominance into points in a physical interregional test match.

For skipper Rondel McArthur, the result represents a significant missed opportunity against a 74th-ranked Bermuda side he identified as  “the team to beat” in the Tier II competition.

The hosts initially looked the more enterprising side, fueled by the barnstorming offensive carries of Vallon Adams.

It was Adams’ directness that provided the platform for the opening score in the 18th minute, as Lionel Holder found the gap to touch down for the game’s only try.

However, the missed conversion proved a harbinger of the kicking struggles to follow.

Bermuda remained patient, clawing their way back into the contest via the boot of Brandon Sangster.

His first penalty ten minutes later trimmed the deficit, leaving the score at 5-3 as the teams retreated for the half-time interval.

The second half was a story of Guyanese enterprise met with Bermudian resilience. While the Green Machine found themselves repeatedly in the offensive zone, their efforts were undone by a lack of finesse in their technical plays and a string of costly dropped balls at crucial moments.

Sangster turned the screw in the 48th minute to put the visitors ahead for the first time, before adding a third penalty in the 62nd minute to stretch the lead to four points.

Guyana pushed late for a match-winning try, but the clinical edge required to break a disciplined Bermudian line remained elusive.

The defeat serves as a sobering introduction to the new RAN Men’s XVs promotion-relegation model, which is designed to reward development with cross-tier matchups.

Up next, Guyana will head to face 71st-ranked Barbados on June 6, before returning home to host a formidable Trinidad and Tobago side—ranked 49th—on June 26.