A lengthy drought for T&T’s men’s sevens rugby team finally came to an end on Sunday, when it was crowned Caribbean champion of the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Sevens in the Cayman Islands, which earned the team its first ever spot in the Hong Kong and Commonwealth Sevens in 2014.

The Larry Mendez-coached men and Simone Andrews-Nero-led women’s teams were successful both taking third spot in their respective Cup competition, with wins over Barbados (14–5) and Cayman Islands (14–7), in the last four stages. Regional powerhouse Canada took both the men and women’s events with one-sided wins. Canada defended its title with a 27–5 win over USA Falcons in the men’s final, while Canada’s women took the title with a 51–0 thrashing of Mexico, in their final.

For the T&T men, their efforts also saw them qualify for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, alongside Canada. Both T&T’s men and women’s teams also qualified for the 2014 Casco Games in Veracruz, Mexico. Guyana, the powerhouse of the Caribbean and three-time Nacra Sevens champion, previously represented the region at the Hong Kong Sevens and the Commonwealth Games, but the team failed to do so this time around after missing the Nacra Sevens tournament due to administrative issues.

T&T’s men qualified for the knockout stage of the Nacra Cup competition after finishing second in Pool B, under USA Falcons, the eventual finalist.

The Calypso Warriors opened the group stage on Saturday with a 36–5 win over Curacao, followed by another one-sided victory over host, the Cayman Islands, 26–7.

The team then suffered its first loss, a heavy 31–0 defeat to USA. T&T then went on to play Pool C runner-up Bermuda, then took a 17-12 win to go on to meet Canada Maple Leafs, in the first semifinal. T&T lost the match 38–0.

The second semifinal was between Barbados and USA Falcons, which the latter team took 26–5.

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