Kingston, Jamaica — The 2022 Rugby Americas North (RAN) will launch its 2022 Women’s 12s and Men’s Under-19s tournaments to be held July 14-17 in the Jamaican capital.
The four-day event, which will be held at the University of the West Indies, marks the first time it’s been held since 2019 in Bridgetown, Barbados; the hiatus was due to the COVID-19 global pandemic
Women Tournament Expands
The women's tournament has switched from 10-a-side to 12-a-side thanks to great depth within the teams that are competing and provides a better elite pathway into major 15-a-side competition. Heading into its fifth year, the Women’s tournament will take place over July 15 and 16 and will include six teams: Jamaica, USA South Panthers, St. Lucia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Cayman Islands.
Friday will see each team play two 30-minute matches, before being reseeded for the second day of competition on Saturday. The top four teams after day one will square off on Saturday in the semifinals with the winners advancing to the championship final and the two losing teams playing a game each against one of the third place finishers from day one. The two third-place finishers from each pool will also play each other on Saturday, providing each team with four matches across Friday and Saturday.
Due to the upcoming World Rugby Challenger Series, 2019 tournament winners Mexico will not be competing in the event in July. Therefore, hosts Jamaica – who were runners up at Bellevue Plantation in Barbados in 2019 – enter the tournament as the top-ranked side.
In its 18th year running, the Men’s U19 tournament will also include six teams: Mexico, USA South Panthers, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The competition will include match days on the 14th and 15th where the teams will play two 40-minute games. After a rest day on Saturday, the finals on Sunday will see the six teams play one match of two 35-minute halves.
“After a long period of in-activity due to the COVID Pandemic, RAN are thrilled to host the Senior Women’s 12s and Men’s 15-a-side U19s once again," said Rugby Americas North General Manager Niall Brooks. "Both competitions are important tools in the promotion, growth, and development of rugby in the region. For the Women’s game, RAN’s focus is on developing a pathway that will assist the regions teams to compete not only locally amongst each other, but to also play outside of the region and to enable teams to climb further up World Rugby’s rankings. The U19s competition enables the future generation of senior rugby players, the opportunity of playing against different opponents and styles of rugby in a continuation of their rugby development."
RAN Women's 12-a-side Pools and Schedule
Pool A:
Jamaica
Dominican Republic Trinidad & Tobago
Pool B:
USA South
St. Lucia Cayman Islands
Friday July 15
9:40 am - Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
10:20 am – USA South v Cayman Islands
12:40 pm – Dominican Republic v Trinidad & Tobago
1:20 pm – St. Lucia v Cayman Islands
3:40 pm – Jamaica v Dominican Republic
4:20 pm – USA South v St. Lucia
Saturday July 16
Match 1: 10:00 am – 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B
Match 2: 10:50 am – 1St Pool B v 2nd Pool A
Match3: 11:40 pm – 3rd PoolAv3rd Pool B
Match 4: 3:00 pm – Loser Match 1 v Loser Match 3
Match 5: 3:50 pm – Loser Match 2 v Winner Match 3
Match 6: 4:40 pm – Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2 – Championship Final
