Bruno Browne, Raffe Hosein rugby derbies on today

THE two most decorated rugby clubs in the country, Trinidad Northern RFC and Caribs RFC will meet today in the annual Bruno Browne and Raffe Hosein cups, starting with the latter at President’s Ground, St Ann’s.

The Raffe Hosein Cup, which features the senior division Caribs and Northern teams will open the double-header at 2 pm.

Two hours later, Caribs, fresh off their victory over Northern in the knock-out final last weekend, will challenge their rivals again in the Bruno Browne Cup, which Northern won for the last two years. They defeated Caribs 22-17 last year. After three meetings this season, evidently little seems to separate the two teams as both have recorded one win each and a draw in the other.

Northern won the first match 10-5 in the first leg of the Championship Division derby in July. They met again on September 1, with the match ending in a 15-15. Then, in the knock-out final last weekend, Caribs avenged their rivals with a 27-24 victory to defend their title.

Richard Staglon recorded three tries in that match for Caribs, while Jonathan Taylor added another to the score sheet. Sefanaia Waqa scored the balance of points with one penalty and two conversions.

For Northern, Cubison Thorne scored the first try and was followed by Kareem Figaro, Kyle Loo Kong and Daryl Scott added one each. Figaro was also directed to the sin-bin temporarily in that match for an infringement. Sebastian Navarro converted two efforts to round off Northern’s scoring.

The preceding Raffe Hosein Cup will feature second teams from the same two clubs. Caribs have struggled in the Senior Division and have been unable to record a win after five matches. Northern has not fielded a team in the Senior Division this year.