By BVIPlatinum.com
BVI beats Curacao 19-0 to top NACRA 2015 South Zone Cup
Photo: Todd VanSickle
With three consecutive victories, the national rugby team has topped the South Zone of the 2015 North American Caribbean Rugby Association’s 15s tournament, following an emphatic victory against Curacao at the A. O Shirley Recreational Grounds on Saturday, May 2.
On a dusty grounds, due to ongoing renovation works, the BVI shutout the visitors 19-0 and will now move on to face familiar opponent, Barbados.
In the 7th minute, the BVI seized a 7-0 lead behind a try by Shamarie Spencer and subsequent conversion by Rory Thornton. Shortly before halftime, the BVI struck again when Noel Maxwell scored with a burst of speed to push the lead to 12-0.
Curacao would respond with an offense surge that lasted about 5 minutes a few yards from the try line, but the BVI defense held up to ensure a 12 point lead when the halftime whistle blew.
Austin Keil crushed the hopes of the visitors when he broke two tackles and secured a try under the uprights. The conversion by Thornton gave the BVI the 19 point victory and a chance to play the top seeded teams in the Caribbean.
Head coach Sherlock Solomon was proud of the team’s accomplishment, particularly, since players from the under-19 program have started to come through. The BVI went to St. Lucia and St. Vincent and returned home with victories.
“Last season we were building and a year later you can see the work. The youngsters were very encouraging and impressive. We were fitter and much more consistent this year and the results prove how hard we have been working for the last 12 months,” said Solomon.
Asked further to explain what has changed since the BVI has always been working, Solomon said, “I think the commitment and the guys learning and understanding the game because half the team was made up of under 19s. They took their licks last year, went to the gym, worked harder and learned from that. It was really satisfying to see the progress,” said Solomon.
For Curacao, the stifling BVI defense was too much to overcome, acoording to captain Robin Perry.
“I don’t think that we played too well that is because the BVI didn’t let us. They played very solid defense, we couldn’t break them down. As a team we are very disappointed, but fair play to the BVI because they were the better team,” Perry stated.
