Country Guyana First played Early 20th century | National team Guyana Registered players 1032 | |
Governing body Guyana Rugby Football Union | ||
Rugby union in Guyana is a minor but growing sport. They are currently ranked 66th by the IRB, with 1032 registered players.
Contents
Guyana is geographically in South America, but competes in North American competitions, and is a member of NAWIRA as its rugby contacts tend to be with the Caribbean nations, rather than the Southern Cone
Governing body
The national governing body is the Guyana Rugby Football Union.
History
Guyana is a former British colony, known as "British Guiana", and the game there was introduced to there by the British. For a number of years, the local rugby scene was dominated by expatriates.
In 1954, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders regiment was stationed in Guyana, and formed their own team to play local sides in the colony. They played sides formed of British and Portuguese residents of Georgetown and the sugar estates. The soldiers had not played for a long while, but had an advantage due to their physical fitness.
Guyana competes in the Caribbean Championship, a tournament which includes Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Martinique, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, and Antigua.
Guyana has done particularly well in the Caribbean Sevens.
It also supports two national teams.