The Tribune

IN the Bahamas’ first bid to reach Olympic qualification in rugby sevens, they fell short in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

Both the men’s and women’s teams finished seventh in their respective divisions at the the North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Sevens Championship in North Carolina over the weekend.

The women scored a 36-5 win win over Barbados while the men won 10-5 over Barbados for their spots in the final standings.

On day one, the women suffered consecutive losses to Mexico (31-0), Trinidad and Tobago (30-0) and Guyana (21-12).

After a 59-0 loss to the US and 25-0 loss to Guyana to open day two, they were relegated to the seventh place game where they scored their first win of the tournament.

On the men’s side, they opened with a 38-19 loss to Guayana, followed by a 45-0 loss to Canada and a 28-19 loss to the Cayman Islands. They ended day one with a win, 14-12 over Trinidad and Tobago. In the Cup-Semifnal they lost 17-0 to Jamaica before the win over Barbados. The tournament served as a qualifier for the 2016 Rio Olympics, when Rugby 7s will be contested for the first time. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro will feature Rugby Sevens competition.

The top finisher in each gender will automatically earn Olympic qualification.

Participating countries included the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Canada, Cayman, Curacao, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos and United States. In their last international appearance, it was a winless finish for the Bahamas Rugby Sevens team as they faced the top programmes in the region in international competition.

Team Bahamas finished 0-4 in their inaugural appearance at the 2014 Serevi RugbyTown Sevens tournament, hosted in Glendale, Colorado, in August 2014.

The 2014 Serevi RugbyTown Sevens tournament was a proving ground for many potential national teams looking to break onto rugby’s big stage.

Prior to that tournament, the Bahamas last competed in Rugby 7s at the NACRA level in 2013. that event, the Bahamas finished in eighth place at the 2013 NACRA Sevens Championships.