By STEPHON NICHOLAS Tuesday, November 11 2008

CARIBS Rugby Club devoured Stag Trinidad Northern 32-16 on Saturday to retain the Bruno Browne Cup and win the prestigious Toyota Rugby Championships at President’s Grounds, St Ann’s.

Stag Trinidad Northern, looking to continue their amazing run of Championships titles for a fifth consecutive year drew first blood with Mikey Browner scoring a drop goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Caribs began to show their might and replied with two unconverted tries from Jason Clark and Ronald Silverthorne to make it 10-3. Browner’s second drop goal kept Trinidad Northern in the hunt reducing the deficit to 10-6 just before the interval. Caribs extended their advantage to 17-6 with Clark’s second try which was converted by veteran fly half Brendan O’Farrell.

Ryan Fredericks revived the hopes of Trinidad Northern with a try but Caribs put the game out of their reach as they began to find cracks in their opponents’ defence.

Peter Bacchus and Ryan Brown brought their supporters to life with a try each while a Don Rojas drop goal and another O’Farrell conversion put the result beyond doubt with an insurmountable 32-11 with just a few minutes remaining.

A late try by Trinidad Northern and national captain Adam Fredericks was not enough as Caribs dethroned the perennial champions with an impressive performance that left no doubt as to who was the top 15s team locally.

In the earlier match, Stag Trinidad Northern Senior Division team beat Caribs 10-6 to retain the Raffie Hosein trophy.

Next on the rugby schedule is the Sevens competition which kicks off on Sunday with the Rainbow Sevens competition at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella. Hosts Rainbow Sport and Cultural Club are the defending champions.

The Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) has made participation at all the local sevens tournaments compulsory for entry for the lucrative Carib Beer International Sevens carded for next month.