The USA Rugby South U19s once again won the Rugby Americas North championship, beating hosts Jamaica 18-15 in the final.
The South, which represents the USA in this tournament every year, opened up pool play with a 19-0 shutout of Cayman and a 17-5 win over Trinidad & Tobago.
Perennial challengers Mexico were not at this tournament (although they did send their women's team to the women's competition, where they took 3rd). This opened up things for anyone looking to challenge the South, and Jamaica stepped up, beating Bermuda 29-3 and Guyana 36-0.
That set up the semis with Jamaica beating Guyana 37-0 and USA South shutting out Cayman 20-0.
So on to the final. Jamaica, like the USA, is a country where many point out the depth of athletes in that country and expect that to be leveraged into rugby success at some point. This Jamaican team featured a big, strong group of forwards and some speed. Unity of play, however, is another question.
USA South got on the scoreboard just about 90 seconds in when flyhalf Quinn Vorster of Oceanside in South Carolina angled through a gap and just barely made it to the corner. The Panthers kept up the pressure but little errors kept the score at 5-0. Jamaica, meanwhile, played a fairly high-risk style of rugby, and that, combined with a hard-hitting defense was pressuring USA South in their own way.
Twelve minutes in Jamaica opened things up after some slopped ball of a scrum. A chip ahead was tipped, allowing everyone to be onside. As a result Jamaica broke through, recycled quickly, and fullback Darnell Simeon-Gordon sped over. The kick was good and Jamaica led 7-5. USA South answered after Jamaica was offside on a kick and Vorster put the kick over. But Jamaica answered, getting a Diontay King, who cut through impressively to make it 12-8 at halftime.
