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HARVARD Rugby Club were crowned Champions of the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union’s (TTRFU) Sevens (7s) Tournament when they defeated Royalians 27-5 in the final at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of- Spain on Saturday.

The win was their first title at the senior level since their inception. Harvard took a 10-0 lead at the half through tries from Jerome O’Brien and Joseph Quashie, both men failing to convert. And at the resumption Claudius Butts gave Harvard a 15-0 cushion with another try soon after but the Harvard men continued to experience problems with their conversion as Butts again missed.

However, Royalians were given hope when Felicien Guerra scored his team’s first try to take the score to 15-5. But instead of a comeback, Harvard closed their doors with a try and conversion from the prolific Butts to take the score to 22-5. And later Wayne Kelly put the icing on the cake with a try to make it 27-5 and wrest the title away from Caribs Rugby Club.

The one-day tournament saw competition in the Men’s and Women’s Open divisions as well as an Under-19. Apart from the Harvard men, Royalians women claimed the win in the Sevens while the Youth Training Centre (YTC) won the U-19 division. There was also a large turnout of supporters which not only pleased president of the rugby union, Leslie Figaro, but also hinted at a revival of the sport in Trinidad and Tobago.

Figaro said it was pleasing to see the turnout of so many teams as well as the enthusiasm at which they played. He particularly thanked seasoned campaigners Caribs and Northerns for their participation as both team were scheduled to square-off for the Marcus Minshall Cup yesterday afternoon. Harvard’s triumph at the shorter version of the game comes after the club finished as runners-up in the Toyota-sponsored Championship while their U-19s also claimed second in the Sevens tourney also on Saturday.

The club will host their annual Sevens Rugby Festival on December 3-4 at the St Mary’s College Ground, Serpentine Road, St Clair which will be televised live on a local sports television station.