Over a packed action-filled weekend of competitive rugby across three separate Caribbean territories, the Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) sent 65 total athletes to compete in elite sevens tournaments, walking away with two championship trophies, sharpened match fitness for its squads, and far greater clarity on roster selections for upcoming regional showdowns scheduled for next month.
The standout performance came from the SLRFU Women’s Select squad, which headlined the very first edition of the MADA Sevens held in Martinique. Facing a Guadeloupe side boasting deep connections to French domestic rugby, refined technical expertise, and years of accumulated regional match experience, the Saint Lucian women delivered a precise, disciplined 24-14 victory to claim the tournament’s top prize.
Further south, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, local club side Rogues RFC claimed top honors at the SVG Independence Sevens. Boosted by two invited guest players travelling from Guyana, the dominant Saint Lucian squad surrendered a mere five total points across three full matches: they shut out the SVG Police team 21-0, routed Leewards Rugby 40-0, and closed out the tournament with a 17-5 final win.
Also competing at the MADA Sevens event, the emerging SLRFU Rugby Youth Academy fought through a tough bracket of veteran regional opponents to earn a highly respectable fifth-place overall finish. Two additional top young Academy prospects, Randall Polius and Annela Phillip, were deployed to the Royalians Sevens in Trinidad and Tobago, where they were thrown straight into high-level regional competition to accelerate their competitive skill growth.
With the high-stakes Rugby Americas North (RAN) Regional Qualifiers fast approaching this November, the string of strong weekend results has given the SLRFU a major boost in its preparations. Wayne Pantor, the union’s technical director, publicly praised every player for their outstanding dedication and consistent performances across all three tournaments.
“Competing against higher-caliber opposition is non-negotiable if we want to cultivate a championship-winning mindset, set clear benchmarks for elite team performance, and lift the overall standard of our program,” Pantor explained. “These cross-border tournaments give our players the rare chance to test their skills against top-tier opponents, while also giving our coaching staff the unfiltered opportunity to evaluate how our teams perform outside of the familiar, lower-stakes local competition circuit.
“This level of real-world competitive exposure is absolutely critical as we work to build fully competitive national squads, reinforce our youth development pipelines, and get every single one of our athletes fully prepared for the Rugby Americas North Regional Qualifiers this November.”
Two trophies and invaluable experience for Saint Lucia rugby
