From Joe Wipple,

West Indies Head Coach/Chairman of Selectors


I am please to announce the Rugby West Indies squad for the USA Sevens tournament in San Diego in 2008.


The players competed for the 12 travelling and 5 non-travelling (reserve) spots in the NAWIRA 7s tournament in Nassau, the Trinidad mini camp and the Trinidad 7s. We had 22 players in our camp in Trinidad and every one of them gave a very good account of themselves. In some cases, experience prevailed over youth and in others the fitness of some was not quite up to the standard required for the next level.
I am confident that we will see all of these 22 compete for the West Indies in the future, provided they put forth the effort. We expect to compete in more tournaments this year and we will be looking at additional players for these tournaments. Our basic selection criteria remain: a good level of fitness, strong in the tackle, able to play the team pattern and demonstrating good ball handling skills.

I thank our selectors:
Noel Adonis (Guyana)

Victor Hyder (Jamaica)
Curtis Nero (Trinidad)

Dave Mays (Cayman)
Spenser Robinson (Technical Director)

Follow up:

Our expectation going forward is that these players will work very hard on their fitness and skills. They will be ready for an intense training camp in Barbados and San Diego in the build-up to the USA Sevens. They have been given fitness programmes to undertake and it is their personal responsibility to undertake the work required. I congratulate these WARRIORS for their commitment and dedication to excellence. They understand that “Good is not Good Enough”.

*Dan Woodsdie was unable to attend the trials due to club commitments in England. However, he's a regular first team choice for Luctonians and as they're clurrently lying third in the table, its unlikely they would have released him.


Source: West Indies Rugby Union by email