From America Rugby News

Mexico shortlist 25 players to battle the Cayman Islands

Mexico Head Coach Ruben Duque has announced a shortlist of 25 players to battle the Cayman Islands on Saturday. The two North American nations will square-off in the North Zone Final of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification.

On line is a place in a place in the Rugby Americas North Championship Final. Either Mexico or the Cayman Islands will meet the South Zone winning Guyana on July 23. The winner of this fixture will advance to take-on the winner of the South American B Championship.

Set to be hosted in Lima, Peru in October the South American B Championship will be a Four Nations competition. Colombia are the red-hot favorites to overcome Peru, Venezuela and the remaining qualifier of Ecuador or Guatemala.

Mexico dream of earning the right to take-on the South American B winner. In order to do so Las Serpientes must overcome the Cayman Islands this coming weekend. The two sides enter the match with undefeated records. Mexico defeated the Bahamas 39-3 and Bermuda 75-10 while the Caymans won by scorelines of 20-8 and 47-11 against the same teams.

Mexico’s roster for Saturday is as follows:

Marcos Flegmann, Alberto Mizael Loredo Reta, Maximilano Alejandro Douek, Santiago Prieto Ledesma, Roberto Calderón Guillemont, José Raúl Reyes Conn, Gonzalo Pons, Simón Pierre, Andrés Rodríguez Ramos, Miguel Carner, Alejandro Chávez Cervantes, Christian Guillermo Henning Morris, Luis Fernando Arredondo Vargas, Agustín Sánchez, Jesús Alejandro Rico Moreno, Erik Castillo Pavón, Santiago Leboreiro Velez, Juan Pablo Andrade, Fharid Samano Garcia, Diego Ramírez Aguilar, Victor Ernesto Oliva Castellanos, Pedro Morales Villanueva, Alvaro Lopez Landeros, Juan  Pablo Martínez-Elhore y Alva, Hugo Rodríguez Ramos

IMAGE: photo credit: José Romelo Lagman

For more on this story go to: http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2016/06/28/mexico/

Cayman Islands name team to face Mexico

Cayman Islands head coach Phil Pretorius has named his side to play Mexico on Saturday in the North Zone final of the Rugby Americas North Championship, which this year doubles as a 2019 World Cup qualifier. The Caymans are a team on the rise and are coming off a dominant 47-11 win over Bermuda at George Town on June 18, their 8th consecutive win, but face a far greater challenge in the altitude of Mexico City against a dangerous Serpientes team.

The team has suffered through some injury disruptions including the loss of tighthead prop Phil Fourie, but has maintained continuity with virtually an identical lineup to the one that beat Bermuda. A single change in the starting roster sees Shaun McDermott elevated to the left wing in place of Venasio Tokatokavanua, who was forced to withdraw with a bad hamstring.

Among several possibles unavailable is dynamic attacker Joel Clark, whose spot on the bench goes to Mark Westin, one of four brothers set to take part. The starting fullback position is still to be confirmed with Ed Westin and Iain Currie bracketed with the non-starter set to wear the no22 shirt as a reserve.

Chris Kennedy leads a side that includes combative hooker Andre Ormond and lineout specialist Yohann Regnard. Out wide much of the Mexican attention will be given to star winger Justin Wight, who has scored in every game this season. National sevens captain Mark Soto is included on the bench.

The match kicks off at 2pm local time at the Estado de México in Dos Ríos.

CAYMAN ISLANDS
1 Jordan Southway 2 Andre Ormond 3 Johnny Gibson 4 Severiano Tabuaniwere 5 Yohann Regnard 6 Al Lum 7 Paul Westin 8 Chris Kennedy (capt.) 9 Neil Montgomery 10 Morgan Shelver 11 Shaun McDermott 12 Danno O’Connor 13 Michael Wilson 14 Justin Wight 15 Ed Westin / Iain Currie

16 Ben McDonald 17 Peter de Vere 18 Joey Westin 19 Mark Soto 20 Paul Smith 21 Ben Blair 22 Iain Currie / Ed Westin 23 Mark Westin

IMAGE: photo credit: Caroline Deegan

For more on this story go to: http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2016/06/28/cayman-islands-name-team-face-mexico/