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The Jamaica Rugby Football Union believes it has done the necessary groundwork that will result in big wins from its players.

There were many dark days for the sport, after the successful era of Sergeant Jacob Thompson, as it suffered over a decade of tournament losses, debts, fines, and a tournament ban. It would be three chairmen later before the Union would finally achieve a tournament win under Jerry Benzwick.

Mountains had to be moved before the Union could elevate the country’s rugby teams into international contenders.

“I walked in on my first day inheriting a large fine that got Jamaica banned from tournament matches. It took a lot of fundraising and restructuring before we could go anywhere,” said Benzwick, reminiscing on the early challenges he faced when he took over as chairman in 2016.

Speaking with Our Today, Bruce Martin, a rugby union board member, shared that he’s seen the growth from all the changes that the body has made in recent years.

Martin made special mention of Benzwick’s willingness to incorporate players from all over the diaspora and the chairman’s focus on streamlining and optimising training.

Benzwick also started the development pathway for rugby that has provided training and scholarships for younger players and many of them have gone on to become national players for the men’s senior team.

“I didn’t do any of this alone, I think the biggest thing for me is that I get a lot of support and good advice from the people around me and I listen to them,” the chairman said.

Jamaica’s men’s senior team has since become tournament favourites and championship contenders in the Rugby Americas North (RAN) division, after successfully becoming back-to-back champions in 2017 and 2018, coming up one game short of qualifying for last year’s Olympics, and making two World Cup appearances.

The island can also once again count itself among RAN tournament hosts for the first time in 20 years.

Last week, Jamaica was able to successfully host the 2022 RAN Women’s 12s and Men’s Under-19s Tournament at the University of the West Indies Mona Bowl where the home team placed second in both brackets behind the US South.

The tournament featured six men’s teams and six women’s teams and lasted seven days, between July 11 and 17.

It consisted of field preparation, medical training, and a certification course in immediate care in rugby for physiotherapists and doctors, during the first three days, followed by four days of play.

The men’s under-19 tournament had six teams from: Jamaica, Bermuda, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman and US South.

The women’s 12s tournament had six teams from: Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican Republic, St Lucia, Cayman and US South.

“I’m proud of the performance of both teams, before it was only the men’s senior team that was doing well, the under-19 hasn’t been strong in a very long time and both these teams were only assembled four days prior, they managed to show that they can play and for our women I’m sure if they had a few more minutes, they could have won that game which is a great testament to them and their coaching,” said Benzwick when asked about his thoughts on the tournament.

The games are currently available for viewing on SportsMax’s YouTube channel.

What is Rugby?

Rugby is a close-contact team sport that originated in England but is now a popular game in many countries across the world. It is played by both men and women and has two major forms – Rugby Union and Rugby League. When referring to “rugby”, it is usually Rugby Union; Jamaica plays both forms of the game.

What is Rugby Americas North?

Rugby Americas North is one of the six world Rugby Regional Associations and has the second highest number of female members and is currently trying to develop the Women’s version of the game in the region

Member countries include USA, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, St Vincent & The Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda, Bahamas, Guyana, Barbados, Cayman, St Lucia, British Virgin Islands, Martinique, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Turks and Caicos, Curacao.

What is ‘Women’s 12s?’

Women’s 12s is a special form of Rugby for Women’s competition. Women’s Rugby in smaller countries usually suffer from fielding the 15-person teams plus substitutes necessary for the traditional form of the game. As part of a development strategy, a form of the game with less players. It began as ten players per side and has since grown to 12. It is forecasted to grow to fifteen within the next 2 years.

What about the future or Rugby in Jamaica?

According to Benzwick, once schools reopen and face-to-face and school sporting programmes can recommence, he expects more under-19 players.

There are also many players overseas who are part of the diaspora and who want to play for Jamaica.

The next goal is to train more highly skilled coaches in Jamaica to further develop the sport.

“The men’s [senior] team is already doing well, but November 2022 will be the girls’ year.”