Conyers-Sponsored West Indies Rugby Team to play in Hong Kong Sevens

Posted 01/03/2009 • Under Community Service

West Indies don't like Sevens ... they love it

The Windies are in town. And Claudius Butts has no doubt as to who the best batsman in the world today is.

He proudly says it is his countryman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the stubborn left-hander from Guyana who was voted as the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2008.

Butts is no dashing calypso cavalier - as yet. He is only the captain of the West Indies sevens team, and someone who has dreams of making it big on the world stage.

"Maybe, someday, I will be the best sevens player in the world too, like Shiv is the best batsman in the world" daydreamed Butts before crashing back to reality as he lined up for a practice game against IRB Sevens co-leaders South Africa at King's Park yesterday.

The West Indies will be making only their second appearance at the Cathay Pacific (SEHK: 0293)/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens. They debuted in 2001 when they reached the Bowl semi-final.

Since then, rugby has made tremendous strides in the Caribbean according to Butts. It is not quite as popular as cricket is, but is gaining ground, and in Guyana - one of 15 countries that constitute the West Indies - it has one of the biggest following.

"Rugby is catching up. It is the third most popular sport in Guyana behind cricket and football," Butts said. "And it is the same in most of the other countries in the Caribbean."

A solid outing this weekend in Hong Kong will go a long way to further boost the image of the sport back home according to Curtis Nero, the soft-spoken manager of the West Indian squad, one of 23 overseas teams in town for the showpiece which gets underway on Friday.

"This tournament will be shown live on Setanta [television] all over the Caribbean, and the exposure will help rugby a great deal," Nero said. "Watching the team in action will be a catalyst for getting more kids into the game."

He added: "Rugby has its following, but we compete with a number of other sports which are considered glamorous, and we also have to contend with the notion that this sport is dangerous."

The team is drawn from many islands and represent Barbados, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines - and also England, with three players turning out in National One, a tier below the Premiership.

"Our main target this week is to see where we stand in the world order. This tournament will be our measuring stick, a sort of milestone to see where we are," said Nero.

"We don't possess the arsenal that most teams have, particularly those who play regularly on the circuit, but we think we are improved and can show the crowd a thing or two."

Butt and the rest of the reggae boyz will have a strong vocal support this weekend from a small band of supporters - clients of law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman who have extensive business interests in the Caribbean and are sponsoring the team while in Hong Kong.

"We have prepared banners and distributed over 300 team shirts to clients and supporters to try to ensure a visible presence of support for the team in the stadium," said Richard Hall, an associate with the firm.

And it will be all reggae-rock-and-roll-rugby promises Butts. "We just want to go out and have some fun and play good rugby," he said.

West Indies are in pool F with Kenya, the United States and Scotland.

This article originally appeared in South China Morning Post.