Caribs Rugby Football Club cannot stop winning.
And over the last weekend, they clinched the T&T Rugby Football Union League title for yet another time with a comprehensive 32-17 triumph over Harvard at the Training Ground of the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, propelling them to a total of 25 points, with arch rivals Trinidad Northerns in second position on 24 points.
The victory also puts them well on course to repeat a clean sweep of all the titles at stake this year, as they did last season. In 2025, Caribs clinched the opening ruggerama title, as well as the Robert Farfan Cup, the TTRFU League, the Marcus Minshall Knock-Out Cup, and the Bruno Brown Cup, which featured a duel with Northerns.
So far this season, the Caribs men have won the Ruggerama crown, the Robert Farfan Cup, and the League. They are now set to clash with Harvard on Saturday in the second of two semifinal matches at the Training Ground of the Hasely Crawford Stadium at 6 pm.
In the first semis at 4 pm, Northerns will take on Royalians, with the two winners expected to meet in the final on a date and time to be determined. This season, the League was reduced to four teams after both the Police and the Defence Force pulled out for unknown reasons. That development led to a two-round round-robin format from which Caribs won five out of six matches played. Their only loss came at the hands of Northerns early in the season.
Coach Reinaldo Bermudez has lost the count of the league titles for his team but reminded the media that his club has won every league title since the return to sport from the COVID-19 pandemic. He credited this to the ability of his players to alter their playing styles to suit different teams.
“We have won consistently since COVID. I think one thing that I don’t see much of the other teams doing is that we alter our playing style. It depends on who we are playing. If we are playing Northerns, we have to play a specific way, a specific pattern, and use different strategies than how we would play against Harvard or the Royalians,” Bermudez explained.
He noted, “We know Harvard is more of a physical team, using the bigger guys that can bash it up the field. I think we just have different strategies for different teams. It’s not just a one-size-fits-all for us; it’s just the ability of our players to know how to alter how we play at certain times.”
The success of the Caribs team did not come as a surprise for Bermudez, whose men had to battle stoutly after Northerns had controlled the top position on the four-team standings for most of the season, following their early triumph over them.
“I cannot be much prouder of the boys. I didn’t expect anything less of them, especially this season. Having such a long break in between games is always tough. Having that break and then coming back into such a physical sport.”
“With that long break, we got a couple of guys with a little knock and bruises that they played through. It’s always a good feeling to snatch back the title when everyone thinks they have a chance. Northerns would have been at the top of the table for a good portion of the season, but it’s always good to take it back from them when they think they have it.”
“Northerners and Caribs would have lost one game each, and that would have been against each other. Northerns would have beaten us in the first round, and then we beat them in the second round,” Bermudez concluded.
