From (IRB.COM)

Cayman Islands are the biggest climbers of the latest IRB World Rankings with a five-place elevation to 58th after beating the Bahamas 35-7 in a warm-up to the NACRA (North American Caribbean Rugby Association) Championships.

The win on the road in Freeport has lifted the Cayman Island to within one place of their highest ever position since the rankings were introduced in October 2003, while also condemning the Bahamas to a three-place fall to 92nd.

VIEW THE FULL RANKINGS at: http://www.irb.com/rankings/sportid=1/ranking/index.html

In South America, the CONSUR Championship continued with Uruguay making it two wins from two with a 34-10 win over Brazil in Bento Gonçalves and Chile bouncing back to edge Paraguay 22-18 in Concepción on Saturday.

The win does not improve Uruguay’s ranking of 20th, but does edge them slightly closer to Russia above. Brazil, who upset Chile in the opening round, do fall one place to 34th as a result of the home defeat, swapping places with Kenya.

Chile do improve their rating slightly by beating Paraguay, but the two sides remain 27th and 38th respectively with one round of the championship remaining next weekend, when Uruguay will tackle Chile and Paraguay face Brazil.

In Asia, the Rugby World Cup 2015 qualifying process continued with round two of the Asian 5 Nations yielding victories for Japan and Hong Kong. Japan ran out 99-10 winners over the Philippines, but the result had no impact on the rankings due to 43 places between them.

Hong Kong top the standings following a 41-10 victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo, a result which lifts them one place to 25th – at the expense of Germany – to equal their highest ever position in the rankings. The defeat sees Sri Lanka slip two to 41st.

READ THE ASIAN 5 NATIONS REPORT >>

The two European Nations Cup matches over the weekend provided the two biggest fallers in the rankings with Denmark and Slovenia sliding six and five places after defeats by Latvia and Austria respectively.

Denmark drop to 73rd after a 16-9 loss to Latvia in Division 2B, a result which lifts their visitors to Odense one place to 63rd. Austria triumphed 20-8 in Division 2C to climb four places to 87th and become the higher ranked of the two sides with Slovenia falling to 85th.

IMAGE: Hong Kong equal their highest ever ranking of 25th after beating Sri Lanka – Photo: Thusith Wijedoru, DigiEye

For more on this story go to: http://www.irb.com/rankings/sportid=1/news/newsid=2071274.html

Related story:

Rugby team’s loss to Cayman Islands was ‘Learning Experience’

By Renaldo Dorsett, From Tribune24

The Bahamas made its return to the international rugby scene last weekend but, despite a disappointing loss, national team head coach Jose Viana said it was a learning experience for the team as they head into the North American Caribbean Rugby Association Championships.

Team Bahamas fell 35-7 to the Cayman Islands in a friendly match in Freeport, Grand Bahama, last weekend.

“I would say the performance of the team was pretty good considering that the Cayman team scored on mistakes rather than gaining an advantage over us. Overall it was a pretty positive experience because there are things that can be taken away from that game and used to help us improve,” Viana said.

The match was in preparation for the NACRA Caribbean Championships, however counted toward the International Rugby Board standings.

With the win, Cayman rose five spots in the IRB standings to No.58 overall while the Bahamas fell three spots to No.92.

The NACRA Caribbean Championships begin for the Bahamas on May 17 when the team is scheduled to play Mexico in a home game at the Winton Rugby Centre.

In the second game of the series, the Bahamas is slated to travel to face Turks and Caicos on May 31, and return home to face Jamaica on June 28.

The winner of the group will be promoted back into Caribbean North Division One.

The winner of our group goes into a playoff with the team that comes bottom of Division One, which includes USA South, Cayman, and Bermuda.

“Our first team meeting and practice with the entire side was that morning before we played and it definitely showed on the pitch because rugby is a very co-ordinated sport. The good thing is that these are things that can be corrected,” Viana said.

“The main issue is that we have team members in Freeport and team members in Nassau, so it’s not possible to get the full team at as much practices as we would like to. As we get closer to the NACRA Championships, the BRFU has made a greater effort to get the team co-ordinated and it is something we will need if we hope to improve.”

The Bahamas was relegated to Division Two after tbeing eliminated from the NACRA 15-a-Side Championships and IRB World Cup Qualification contention.

The Bahamas fell 16-8 to Bermuda in their second game of the North Zone group.

In game one, the Bahamas fell 27-7 to the Cayman Islands. It was the first time Cayman beat the Bahamas since 2003.

“For the NACRA Championships, we have to improve on our ball possession. The scrum and the lineout are co-ordinated moves so it is difficult for us to maximise our potential in these areas unless we practice these scenarios together,” Viana said. “When you play without ball control, you end up on the defensive end for much of the game, which is what happened last weekend, and you see the result.”

For more on this story go to:

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/may/06/rugby-teams-loss-to-cayman-islands-was-learning/