Cayman Islands made the most of home advantage to retain their Caribbean Under 19 Championship crown with a 18-8 victory over Mexico in the final on Saturday.
In a repeat of last year’s final in Barbados – when Cayman Islands won 22-3 to qualify for the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2009 in Kenya – the hosts once again came out on top with Robbie Cribb kicking five penalties after Joel Clark’s early drop goal.
The ever-improving Mexicans, who had scored three late tries to beat Trinidad & Tobago 22-14 in the semi finals, had only trailed 6-3 at half-time but Cribb’s reliable boot put Cayman Islands too far ahead before Pascal Nadaud’s late consolation try.
Third place in the tournament went to Trinidad & Tobago, who bounced back from their semi final disappointment to beat 2007 champions Jamaica 21-0 with Mike Augustus and John Quashire scoring tries in the victory.
With only seven teams taking part – including newcomers Bermuda and Bahamas – Cayman Islands had a bye into the semi finals, where they were joined by Jamaica, T&T and Mexico after wins over Bahamas (34-9), Guyana (23-5) and Bermuda (33-0) respectively.
The three teams to lose on the opening day then entered the round robin Bowl competition for the remainder of the week-long tournament with two impressive displays by Bermuda seeing them come out on top after beating Bahamas 31-0 and former champions Guyana 78-0.
