Silver and Centro Caribe qualification for Barbados rugby

The Barbados men’s rugby team has qualified for the 2026 edition of the Centro Caribe Games, from July to August in the Dominican Republic, after placing second at the Rugby Americas North Sevens Tournament over the weekend. The competition was held at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago. Whereas the men excelled, however, Barbados’ women failed to register a win.

 

Barbados got their Tier 1 men’s campaign underway on Friday, with a massive loss to favourites and defending champions Canada, 0-45 in the tournament’s opening match. That was followed by another tough outing against México, where the score was 7-19 for the North Americans.

 

On Saturday morning, Barbados got their first win, 21-7 over Bermuda. That qualified them for the quarterfinals, where they met Guyana’s Mean Green, emerging victorious 36-5. In the semifinals, with a place in the title match on the line, the Sunday morning rematch against Bermuda again went Barbados’ way, 26-7. That set a final match against the Canadians, 0-31 repeat winners.

 

Semifinal qualification had already clinched Barbados a spot in the Centro Caribe Games, along with Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, all of whom will join hosts Dominican Republic, as well as Guatemala-Costa Rica in the 2026 multisport games.

 

Barbados’ women did not fare nearly as well. Jamaica and México got the Centro Caribe berths, but Barbados scored just five tries in six games. They were beaten 5-22 by Bermuda, 0-59 by Jamaica, 5-10 by Guyana, 10-35 by Mexico, 0-46 by Trinidad and Tobago, and then 7-14 by Guyana in the fifth-place playoff.

 

The Barbados men’s team featured three new caps: Joshua Rudling, Justin Hart, and Christopher Blades. Joining the squad after a four-year absence were Jake Caddy and Grayson Haynes. The team had an eight-day training camp in Turks and Caicos.

(TF)