Reading today’s press releases suggests that qualification for the Rugby World Cup Sevens was a ‘walk in the park’, which is a bit disrespectful to the teams that challenged Canada and USA all weekend in the Bahamas.

It was a wonderful day of rugby yesterday. Every game was fiercely contested, and yes Canada and the USA men and women made it through to the final but not without taking on all comers in the pool and final rounds.

In the men’s pool rounds Trinidad and Tobago were probably one of the more physical sides whilst Guyana had the pace and stepping game that makes sevens such an entertaining game. Bermuda had the passing game but not the pace to finish, and the local side buoyed by their local vocal support rose to new levels as the game went on.

In terms of entertainment, watching the Jamaican women warm up (to music without a ball) was not something I could see happening in Gloucester where the local fans banned pre match music and entertainment (including girls dancing) so they could watch the warm up. In fact the only entertainment at Gloucester was at half time when they had a ‘tug of war’ against the opposition supporters. Health and safety officials at the stadium soon put a stop to that due to rising testosterone levels!

But in the Bahamas, rugby is played with a smile on its face, I am not sure what teams like England would have thought about having to qualify for the World Cup in the Caribbean?

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