With the prospect of the league title slipping away from their grasp, second placed Caribs secured the next best thing, when they cruised to a 12-3 victory over arch rivals Stag Trinidad Northern to retain the Bruno Browne Cup, emblem of rugby supremacy between the two teams, at the Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, on Saturday.
Caribs took the trophy, and the points that kept them in contention for the Toyota Championship, after leaders Harvard went within one match of its first ever major title with a 82-14 demolition of Rainbow Sports and Culture Club, in Marabella. While Harvard were staking the claim in the southland, all eyes were on Caribs and Northern, as the two clubs presented spectators to a double-header at the Oval, with the former having three titles on the line.
The day started with the Raffie Hosein Cup, which Caribs also won by an even more comfortable 22-8 scoreline. The opener, which was originally scheduled to be a Senior Division encounter, was more of an exhibition match between both clubs Under-19 and U-17 players, as Northern pulled out of the second tier league competition earlier in the campaign.
With one win under the belt, Caribs went into the second match knowing that anything less than a win would eliminate its chances of repeating its league triumph from last year. And it was Caribs which struck first. Ryan Browne's early first half try which was converted by Don Rojas, gave the champions a 7-0 lead, which stood at half time. Caribs extended the lead to 12-0, with Abdeel Giles scoring the second and last try. Northern had a glimmer of hope when its designated kicker Justin McLean slotted home a penalty to make it 12-3, but neither team would find another opening.
Caribs celebrated another Bruno Browne triumph in much more straightforward fashion than its 2011 win, when it needed to come from behind to take the match 13-10. Saturday's result meant that Caribs took the trophy and four points. It did not receive a bonus point as its players scored less than four tries. With one more match to play in the league, and sitting two points behind, the bonus point would be deemed as insignificant. Simply, Caribs needs a victory in its next match versus Police, which is bottom of the standings, without a point, while Harvard will need to suffer an unlikely loss to Royalians, in two weeks.
On Saturday, kicking off an hour before the main event in Port-of-Spain, Harvard, made its distant journey to Marabella count. Rainbow's performances has weakened consistently throughout the campaign and it was always on the backfoot against Harvard. It clearly failed to keep up with the flair and speed offered by the Larry Mendez-coached team. Rudolph Jack's Rainbow team could do nothing about the 22 points scored by Ryan Hinckson, who missed just one of 12 conversion attempts, in an extraordinary display of accuracy.
It was a win which epitomized the rise of the sevens champions over the past two years. Fate is now in Harvards' hands, which will seal its first Championship Division title with a victory over Royalians on November 10. Toyota Championship action will take a break for the upcoming weekend, when Harvard meets 2011 finalist Northern in the Marcus Minshall Memorial on Saturday. Harvard too has never won the Cup.
Results
Toyota Championship Division
Harvard 82 (Cloyd London 2 tries, Rowell Gordon 2 tries, Keston Earle 2 tries, Bryan Cummings try, Vallon Adams try, Aaron Rocke try, Joseph Quashie try, Claudius Butts try, Ryan Hinckson try, 11 convs) v Rainbow 14
Royalians 48 v Police 0
Caribs 12 (Ryan Browne try, Abdeel Giles try, Don Rojas conv) v Northern 3 (Justin McLean pen)
Raffie Hosein Cup
Caribs 22 v Northern 8.
Current Standings
Teams–Pld–W–D–L–F–A–Bonus–Pts
Harvard–9–8–0–1–486–87–8–40
Caribs–9–8–0–1–261–146–6–38
Northern–9–5–0–4–253–118–4–24
Royalians–9–3–0–6–110–155–5–17
Rainbow–9–3–0–6–166–258–1–13
Police–9–0–0–9–43–655–0–0.
