Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 20/Oct 09:23

Rugby Union prepares to host 2025 RAN Sevens in Malabar

A total of 15 countries will descend on the shores of TT for the 2025 Rugby Americas North (RAN) Annual Senior Sevens tournament, which will be held at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, from November 21-23. It will be the TT Rugby Union's (TTRU) second consecutive year in hosting the event in what is a three-year allocation bid. TT will field teams in the men's tier one category as well as the women's category and will be keen to improve on their efforts from the 2024 edition. Last year, the TT men progressed to the final but were eventually beaten 38-0 by Canada in the gold-medal match. The runner-up finish earned TT's junior men's team a spot at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games. Last year, the TT women's "A" team placed third after defeating Dominican Republic in a third-place playoff, with the "B" team placing fifth. Mexico clinched the women's final with a 19-12 win over Jamaica. An October 15 RAN release said the men's landscape will be the same from last year, but there will be a change in the women's programme as Bermuda and Guyana will join Barbados, Jamaica, Mexico and hosts TT for a total of six teams. Eight teams will contest the men's tier one category, with Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica and Mexico joining their TT counterparts. The men's tier two field includes Bahamas; British Virgin Islands; Curacao; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; and Turks and Caicos Islands. Dominican Republic defeated Curacao in the men's tier two final last year. The winners of the men's tier one and women's categories will qualify for the SVNS pathway, part of World Rugby's evolved HSBC SVNS model. The top three teams in the men's tier one category, excluding Canada, will qualify for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic, to go along with the top two women's teams. A promotion opportunity will also be on the line for the tier two men's winner, granted they are a full member union of RAN. The men's tier one tournament will feature two pools of four before knockout play, while the men's tier two and women's categories will take on a round-robin format before the final matchups are decided. The post Rugby Union prepares to host 2025 RAN Sevens in Malabar appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.