It was a tough experience for The Bahamas' junior boys national rugby sevens team yesterday, as that segment of the sixth edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) got underway at the original Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium. The boys finished the day with a winless 0-3, suffering losses to Fiji, Samoa and England.
In the first game of the competition, Fiji knocked off The Bahamas quite easily, shutting them out 59-0. Fiji jumped out to an early lead in their game against The Bahamas and never looked back. They took a 33-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Fiji added to their lead quickly in the second quarter, scoring twice within the first five minutes of play.
The Bahamas' inexperience showed throughout. They struggled to advance the ball against Fiji's defense and appeared to be overwhelmed by the pace of the international game. Fiji went on to score 26 points in the second quarter to seal the deal against Team Bahamas.
Later in the day, The Bahamas suffered a lopsided 59-5 loss at the hands of Samoa.
The Samoan team held a commanding 31-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and outscored The Bahamas 28-5 in the second to claim their second victory of the day. Samoa took down England 19-7 in their opener.
In their final game of the day, Team Bahamas suffered a 72-0 shutout loss to England.
"After today, we just have to remain positive," said Kyle Charlton, Team Bahamas' assistant coach. "We're going up against some of the top-ranked clubs in the world and some of our players have been playing for just six months. My most experienced player has only been competing for two years now, so we just have to remain positive moving forward. We have to embrace the exposure that we are getting in these games and use it as motivation going forward. These losses will serve as motivation because no one likes to lose, especially at home. Although the competition will be tough throughout the remainder of the tournament, we just have to remain focused on the experience we're getting and improve."
Team Bahamas will be back in action again today. They'll take on Bermuda in their first game, which is set for 9:44 a.m., and then Sri Lanka at 12:30 p.m.
All rugby sevens games will be played at the original Thomas A. Robinson Stadium.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian