Carib Rugby Football Club regained the lead in the Toyota T&T Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) Championship Division standings with a 28-0 default win over Royalians, yesterday. Royalians failed to appear for their fixture giving Caribs the automatic five points (including the bonus). Harvard faced Stag Trinidad Northern in the other match, which Northern won 21-10, inflicting a massive blow in Harvard's quest for their first ever Championship Division title. The match was played at Northern's home venue, President's Ground, St Ann's, in sloppy conditions given the heavy rainfall.
Joseph Quashie opened the scoring with a try for Harvard within a quarter hour. The lead was short lived, however, as Northern responded quickly with a try and conversion from Justin Mc Lean. Northern then extended their lead with a push over try which resulted from a line out, making it 14-5 at the half. Michael Augustus was credited with the try. Just minutes into the second half, David Gokool replied with a try for Harvard. Again, Northern were quick on the offensive at the restart and scored a try through Ryan Fredericks, which again was converted by Mc Lean, making it 21-10 in favour of the hosts. The win for Northern put them on 34 points, a point behind Harvard, who are on 35 points and five behind Caribs on 39 points.
Harvard are on a bye for the next round of fixtures. Northern and Caribs will play their final fixture of the league season and the Bruno Borwne Cup challenge in the same match, which will be played at the Queens Park Oval on October 29. A win for Caribs will see them lift the Championship trophy, while a Northern win will give Harvard the title. The match will be the second of a double header, following the Senior Division final match also being played between Northern II and Caribs II, in another potential title decider.
In Senior Division action on the day, Tobago dropped leaders Northern II 15-12, for their first loss of the campaign at President's Ground. Tobago led at the half 10-7 with tries from Akins Hislop and Desmond Wright. Jerome Bold scored Northern's try before the half. His effort was converted by Mick Browner. Jonny Christie pulled one back for Northern with a try in the second half, but Tobago found the winner through a Heron Graham try. Tobago picked up four points for the win while Northern were awarded a bonus point for losing under a seven point margin. With Caribs' II default 28-0 win over Rainbow, the team went top of the standings. The team leads Northern by two points, while Tobago trail the leaders by seven points.
Standings
Championship Division
Team P W D L Bonus F A Pts
Caribs 9 8 0 1 7 273 57 39
Harvard 9 7 2 7 336 139 35
Northern 9 7 0 2 6 242 69 34
Royalians 9 3 0 6 3 154 258 15
Rainbow 9 1 0 8 1 108 302 5
Police 9 0 0 9 0 17 362 0
Senior Division
Caribs II 8 6 0 2 7 168 80 31
Northern II 7 6 0 1 5 159 58 29
Tobago 7 5 0 2 4 134 95 24
UWI 8 4 0 4 5 138 127 21
Rainbow 8 2 0 6 1 75 193 9
D Force 8 0 0 8 1 68 237 1