Reggae Warriors impress US coach

Brant Richardson, coach of the United States Hawks, said he was very impressed with the display of the Jamaican Reggae Warriors’ performance following their friendly international match at the UWI Mona Bowl on Saturday.

The Jamaicans carved out a narrow 26-24 victory over the powerful Americans in front of a small sized crowd at the UWI Mona Bowl. It was the Jamaicans’ second victory over the Hawks in eight meetings.

Richardson, who was born in Australia, told The Gleaner that he believes that the Jamaican players are very talented and was left impressed with how they managed the game.

“It is a great win for Jamaica because it means a lot to them and you are going to see Rugby League taking off in this area and so I am really excited for them,” said Richardson.

“I was really impressed with them. I thought their hooker was lightning because he really ran a lot and the couple of big boys that they had on the wings were great, and I am really impressed with them, and this is really good for Jamaica,” he said.

Richardson believes that the victory is a big boost for the Reggae Warriors’ local players who are trying to make the squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

“Credit to Jamaica because it is going to be a great time for them, and they can only move on up from here,” he said.

“These players are very talented, and you can see that they understand the game and were hungry for the victory,” said Richardson, while adding that his team played poorly throughout the match.

“We are disappointed with our efforts because our conversion rate was very poor and we didn’t give ourselves a real chance in this game,” Richardson said.