March 12, 2009

SKIPPY LIZARDS vs. TCI — MARCH 7th 2009

Last Saturday saw the TCI Flamingos take on the Skippy Lizards in Providenciales on March 7th 2009. This match was played at the National Stadium and was the first home match since the TCI side hosted the Bahamian Cracked Conch side in the Flamingo Cup in April of 2007. This match also came hard on the heels of the return from Ft. Lauderdale of the TCI touring side, which has just competed in the prestigious Ruggerfest Tournament the two weekends ago. The home side was match fit and fielded a strong side ­ combining youth and experience.
After an early onslaught which saw the Skippy Lizards with a strong wind at their backs, camped in the TCI quarter for the first 20 min’s of the game, the TCI side slowly started to wear down the invitationalAll Star Lizards side with some ferocious tackling. This sustained defensive pressure saw the touristsunable to pierce the defensive screens deployed by the home side, with scrambling defense the order ofthe day. The lack of penetration forced the Lizards to change their game plan and they eventuatingsettled for taking 2 penalty kicks to fly­half John Gorman to edge ahead 6 ­ 0 at half time. Strongrunning from the centre’s on both sides; Peter Baker & Ryan Jones for the TCI side and Steve Raia & AdilManari for the Skippy Lizards saw a lot of midfield breaks occur and defensive tackling required. At the half time break TCI Captain Simon Taylor encouraged the home side to build on their successful efforts in the first half and have the confidence to attack the visitors out wide in the 2nd half.
The restart saw this occur as some sterling forward work in the loose saw the ball secured by the TCI pack. TCI halfback Jamie Tait then spotted room to the left of the field and throwing a perfect long cut out pass which found fullback Gareth Butler in space. He bolted down the left wing drawing the opposition fullback, and putting speedster Dean Griffiths away for the line. Winger Griffiths still had a lot of work to do as he shrugged off the Lizards covering blindside winger and scored a great try in the corner. The try was unconverted and the Lizards till held a slender 1 point lead, 6 ­ 5.
The restart led to more good work from the TCI loose forwards led by Daryl Crawford and Ben Gearing, which saw more turnover ball. Quick hands in the backs saw Peter Baker with an outside gap. He proceeded to run 40 meters up field beating player after player, before scoring an incredible solo try. This performance along with many other breaks, and strong defensive work saw Baker awarded the Man of the Match award, in only his 4th game of rugby. This is a player with big prospects. Other standout performances for the home side were from Jamie Tait (with a strong solo run), Ryan Jones, and James Hamilton. Neil French and Dino Parker both ran well with the ball in hand as well, and the tight forwards deserve a commendation for providing the base for the home side to attack.
Strong running from the Lizards side from their Captain, Steve Raia and their man of the match Eight man, Alex Kalman, saw a fiercely contested match that owed credit to both sides, both for the spirit in which it was played but also the intensity of the game.
The final score was 10­6 and it was noted after the game that, had the TCI side not had the preparation at Ruggerfest the score could easily have blown out in the tourists favor by a large margin. But a well taken win resulted instead, and the TCIRFU is now looking forward to their next encounter against the Bahamian Cracked Conch side in Providenciales on April 24th. For more information on rugby contact the Clubs Public Relations Officer, Gareth Butler on 242 9210 or visit the rugby website at www.rugby.tc
Background on the tourists:
The Skippy Lizards side is an invitational side based out of New York that has a short but invigorating history. The Skippy Lizards RFC (est. 2004) was originally conceived to pay tribute to a Kiwi Coach named Paddy Bartlett and this influence is reflected in the silver fern on their crest.
In 2004, captain and founder Steve Raia and Coach Bartlett hand­picked the first side which would play in The Four Leaf Rugby Tournament (NYC). Conservatively entering the social division, The Skippy Lizards crushed the competition (including wins vs. New York RFC and Copenhagen, Denmark RFC) to win the championship. In 2008, The Lizards toured Texas to play Austin RFC narrowly losing 4 tries to 3. Their overall record stands at 4­1.
The team, which has evolved into strictly a touring side hand-picked by Raia, now features players from all parts of the USA (plus a player from England) that all share a common bond that embodies Coach Bartlett’s style of playing good hard rugby on the pitch. For Turks & Caicos 2009 tour match, 5 players make their Lizards debut.

RUGGERFEST 2009
The Ruggerfest tournament was a worthwhile exercise for the TCIRFU with the goal of competing well and raising the profile of the Turks & Caicos Islands themselves as well as rugby in the TCI. Competing in the highly competitive club division the Flamingos put in valiant efforts in their first two games against teams from the US Maccabiah and Brandywine RFC.
Unfortunately the results did not go TCI’ way with losses to both of these teams. Much consolation can be taken from the fact that the Brandywine team went on to compete in the Final of the competition proving how strong a competitor they were. The last game of the tournament saw the TCIRFU put in a convincing performance to outplay the team from North Shore, Maryland, with a number of TCI players getting their names on the try-scorers list.
Two TCI debutants managed to score for TCI; Simon Bevis, and David Olin, and Andino Parker also chalked up his first try for the country despite playing many games previously. The final tally was 5 tries to 2 for a 29­10 score­line. This good team effort laid the platform for the upcoming home game on Saturday.