Caribs men, women knockout Harvard

CARIBS RFC responded to their two league defeats by Harvard on Saturday by sealing a 20-5 victory over their rivals to advance to the final of the TT Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) Championship Division knockout competition, along with the day’s other winners, Trinidad Northern.

At the Queen’s Park Savannah, the site of four rugby matches on Saturday, Caribs exacted revenge through tries from Ryan “Bumpy” Brown – the oldest player on the team, Jamal Clark and Fiji-born Bess Waka. Waka, who has been a stand-out player for the “Beer Boys” also scored a conversion and a penalty. Northern, meanwhile, defeated Royalians for the third time in two months with a 34-5 result to book their place in the final.

Earlier in the day, the Women’s Division knockout competition also kicked off with two matches in the savannah. Police FC, the runaway leaders of the women’s league competition, secured a dominant 38-0 win over Royalians. National player Nicolette Pantor, along with Kathleen Stephen scored a pair of tries, and Ornella George scored one. Jamila Derrick was impressive with 11 points courtesy a try and four conversions.

Caribs defeated Harvard 29-10 in the other women’s semifinal. The Championship Division knockout final featuring Police’s women against Caribs will be played on September 8.

Yesterday, there was one Senior Division knockout match scheduled with Harvard II set to take on Marabella-based Rainbow Sports and Cultural Club in the first semifinal. That match, however, was not played as Rainbow arrived at the match venue over an hour after the kickoff time and too close to sun down. The match is expected to be awarded 28-0 to Harvard by default. The other semifinal between Caribs II and Defence Force was rescheduled to September 8.