Shock quarterfinal winner Royalians will be looking to bring another upset to the table when it takes on Harvard Rugby Club in the last four stage of the T&T Rugby Football Union (T&TRFU) Marcus Minshall Knockout competition, at Caribs Pitch, Queen's Park Savannah, at 4 pm today. The match is set to kick out simultaneously with the other semifinal fixture between Rainbow and 2011 finalist Stag Trinidad Northern, which will be played at Harvard Pitch. The feature match between Royalians and Harvard is expected to be a lively one, with both teams looking to secure a final spot en route either team's first ever senior trophy. Over the decades of competition, the cup has typically been secured by the most dominant team in local rugby- Caribs.
However, Caribs, the reigning cup champions suffered one of the biggest upsets in recent years, when they lost by a single point to Royalians, 25-24, two weeks ago, with the emerging team scoring a try in almost the last action of the match. Caribs scored a try with just five minutes remaining in the match and looked on course to take the win. However, had its final try been converted, Caribs would have likely held on to the narrow win to take a regular semifinal spot. Royalians now faces Harvard, which advanced to the semifinal stage without having to play its scheduled match versus Rainbow's second team. Due to a lack of players, Rainbow forfeited its match, while the Marabella club's first team went onto defeat Senior Division club Tobago 33-25, for a spot in the semifinal against Northern.
In the other quarterfinal match, Northern eased past top tier's struggling club Police, 81-12. One Women's Knockout semifinal match will be played when Caribs takes on Romans at the Queen's Park Savannah, at 2.30 pm. The second Women's semifinal match will be played tomorrow, when Police battles Royalians at Harvard Pitch, QPC, at the same time. The final outstanding match in the Championship Division will be played tomorrow, as champion Caribs looks to leapfrog current leader Harvard, as it faces Police in its final outstanding match. Caribs is not only expected to win the match, but the club is expected to to so by a high margin to take the ever-important bonus point (award to a team which scores four or more tries and a team which suffers a loss by seven points or less). Action in the Under-17 division will also continue tomorrow, with four matches. First will meet last when top of the standing Rainbow takes on win-less Rydeus, in Marabella, at 2.30 pm.
Matches Today
Knockout semifinals
Men
Harvard v Royalians, Caribs Pitch, 4 pm
Rainbow v Northern, Harvard Pitch, 4 pm
Women
Caribs v Romans, Caribs Pitch, 2.30 pm
Tomorrow
Championship Division
Caribs v Police, Caribs Pitch, QPS- 4 pm
U-17 Division
Exiles v Harvard, Gasparillo, 2.30 pm
Rainbow v Rydeus, Marabella, 2.30 pm
Royalians v Northern, Harvard Pitch, 4 pm
Women's Knockout semifinal
Police v Royalians, Harvard Pitch, 2.30 pm