UNDER-19 CARIBBEAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIPS - Jamaica face Guyana in final

Carl Spence, Gleaner Writer

JAMAICA WILL be out to defend their title when they meet Guyana in tomorrow's final of the Under-19 Caribbean Rugby Championship after both teams had convincing wins in their final round of games in the Cayman Islands.

The defending champions entered their final game of the preliminary round against hosts Cayman Islands needing to win by an 11-point margin if they were to defend their crown in the final.

They were slightly off the target halfway through the game, as they went into their half-time break with the score at 7-3 after a Kenneth Walker try was converted by Hubert Thomas. Cayman's three first-half points came in the form of a penalty taken by Robbie Cribb.

The target was, however, reached through the second-half efforts of team captain Tyrone Rowe, Sebastian Stewart and Fabian Atkinson, as the visitors dismissed the hosts by 13 points to take the game 22-9.

In the other crucial game of the competition, Guyana defeated Trinidad and Tobago by 19 points to set up an interesting final with Jamaica.

The writing was on the wall from early in the first half as the Guyanesse scored multiple tries to enter the interval with the score on 24-7. A more conservative second half saw the teams scoring just 12 points between them as the game ended 31-12.

The tournament climaxes tomor-row with two games before the final. In the first match, invitees Mexico compete against Trinidad and Tobago for the third-place spot in all pools while Barbados and Cayman will meet for bragging rights only.