Lady Crocs dream big after returning to international stage

Jamaica’s first women’s international in more than 13 years may have ended in defeat, but just getting onto the pitch in Mexico City can be seen as an achievement.

The Lady Crocs had been scheduled to make their return to the Test arena at the RAN Women’s Rugby Championship in July but were forced to withdraw due to the impact of Hurricane Beryl.

Hosts Mexico subsequently agreed to rearrange their meeting with Jamaica to December 7, as part of a double-header with a men’s Test against Cayman Islands, but the venue change that entailed raised further issues for the visitors.

July’s Women’s Championship had been staged in Santiago de Querétaro but last Saturday’s rescheduled encounter was held around 230km south, in the capital.

Getting a squad drawn from Jamaica, the UK, USA and Canada to Mexico at relatively short notice was never going to be easy and the decision was made to use the same players who had been picked for the original tournament.

Some Jamaica-based players – who were tied into flying with the airline that provided tickets to Querétaro earlier in the year – found it difficult to find seats on a plane that would get them to Mexico City in time, however.

As a result, Jamaica were only able to field 17 players for the match, with arrival times dictating the squad trained just once in the build-up to the international at Alfredo Harp Helu Rugby Field.

In that context, a 46-19 defeat at high altitude, albeit to a side playing only their second women’s Test, is cause for celebration rather than concern.

“I was really proud,” Jamaica coach Hughton Campbell said. “Some of the girls underestimated the altitude that we were playing at. It’s very high.

“It’s 2,200 metres above sea level. It impacts on your lungs, and until they were there, they just didn’t realise what it was like.”

He added: “Mexico are quite well structured, organised, they get together and have regular camps and it showed really.”

Jamaica captain Naomi Dodd scored all of her side’s 19 points in a performance made all the more remarkable by the fact she started the match at openside flanker and ended it in the centres.

“She’s been at uni in the States,” Campbell said. “She’s actually been playing flanker for her university (American International College), because that’s where they want her to play because they’ve got so many great backs.

“So, they’ve put her in at flank and she’s one exceptional player. She wanted to play on the flank and I said, ‘Well, OK, that’s where you’re happy, that’s what you’ve been doing all season’.

“But then it came to the point where we had an injury, and I put her in at centre and those 19 points all came from her.”

Campbell suggests the biggest lesson from the loss was the need for more preparation but the experience in Mexico City has not dampened his ambition for the team. Far from it.

He is a determined coach and has his sights set firmly on qualification for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2033.

“We know we have got to strive towards the World Cup. I’ve never been a guy that’s been involved with anything that doesn’t want to go anywhere,” Campbell said.

“I truly believe this is a great opportunity.”

Campbell, who also coaches Bournemouth University’s women’s team, has worked with the Jamaica Rugby Football Union since 2016.

For the past six years he has overseen the men’s and women’s sevens and 15s programmes as team manager, coaching the men at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

He is also president of Jamaica UK Rugby, an organisation that brings together players based in England, Scotland and Wales who qualify to represent the Caribbean nation at international level.

Jamaica UK Rugby has been integral in identifying players for the men’s programmes and is having a similar impact in the women’s game, providing eight of the squad that travelled to Mexico City.

“I’m just blown away by how many young girls are coming through with Jamaican heritage that are playing rugby now. It’s just happened,” Campbell said.

“Five or six years ago I was wondering which Jamaican women played rugby and now I have a plethora of them.

“I have a guy who runs an academy in London who’s said he’s got four Jamaican girls on his team.”

Saracens back row Joia Bennett was one player on Jamaica and Campbell’s radar, although the talented England U20 flanker has opted to challenge for Red Roses honours.

But Campbell is confident there is more than enough talent coming through to ensure that it won’t be another 13 years before the Lady Crocs are heard of again.

Only time will tell whether last weekend’s defeat in Mexico City was the start of a remarkable journey for Jamaica, but the coach is certainly unwavering in his work.

A fixture against England Deaf Rugby has been lined up for February and the plan is for the Lady Crocs to return to Mexico for the next edition of the Women’s Championship.

“There’s a really good opportunity out there,” Campbell insists. “My firm step one is to go and win our next tournament in July.”

He will hope that is the first stride on the long road to the 2033 World Cup in USA.