The 25-year old rivalry between Police and the Defence Force Men for the Interservice Rugby Cup and 'Bragging right" continued on Tuesday night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, with the Defence Force men taking yet another title.
However, the Army Coast-Guard combination Women could not emulate that and were beaten 20-7 by a more superior Police team that was led by two tries apiece by Angel Jorsling and Kathleen Stephens. Jorsling, a standout player for the T&T team was eventually named the game's most valuable player.
Army's seven points came via an opening try by Leah Kintiba, before Julian Straker, a former national captain, made no mistake from the conversion. Kintiba was later adjudged, the most valuable player (MVP) for her team.
It was actually the first meeting between the Defence Force and the Policewomen in the 25 years, as the latter struggled to produce a team in previous seasons. The Policewomen, on the other hand, have made a clean sweep of all the titles at stake in the T&T Rugby Football Union tournaments this year and were expected to win on the night.
The Defence Force men were 17-10 winners over their counterparts, confirming their superiority on the rugby field.
Kevin Young and Kenwyn Davis both scored tries for the Army, which were converted by Shervon Niele for 14 points. Niele later made no mistake from the penalty kick that took their score to 17.
For Police, however, Aaron Edwards and Akiel Smith combined for their 10 points, which proved to be insufficient on the day.
First Edwards handed his team its first five points with a try before Smith made it seven from the conversion. Smith later scored from the penalty spot for an additional three points.
Afterwards, Police coach Vernyl Ross said, while the tournament is still in its building phase, he expects it will soon become a fixture on the TTRFU calendar in the coming years. He told Guardian Media Sports the idea is to expand the tournament to include all the services teams, with Fire Services and Prisons joining them.
This year new Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith made a welcome appearance at the tournament, much to the delight of all who attended. Griffith, an ex-Captain at the Defence Force met with the players before the games and later presented awards.
A release from the TTRFU stated that both the TTPS and the Defence Force were very appreciative that Commissioner Griffith was able to come out and support the encounters "It demonstrates that the administration is in support of sport in the services," the release stated.