With a bonus-point 67-14 win in the bag for defending league champion GNC Gatorade Harvard over Royalians in the penultimate fixture in the T&T Rugby Football Union’s (TTRFU) Toyota Championship Division, all eyes will be on the upcoming Bruno Browne fixture, which may determine a return to champions’ status for 2011 champion Caribs RFC.

While Caribs was on a bye on Saturday, Harvard needed a win to stay in the hunt for the league title, and did so with the five-point win while put it a point behind Caribs heading into the final day of the league season.

Harvard opened a 29-7 half-time lead, playing at home at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, courtesy of a pair of tries from both Joseph Quashie and Claudius Butts. Only two of the four tries were converted by Ryan Hinckson.

Royalians, already 17-0 down before the first half-hour pulled a try back from James Phillip, which was converted by Felician Guerra.

The second-half, which was another one-sided affair, saw Harvard on target with a further six tries, half of which were converted by Hinckson.

Butts added a third try, while Cloyd London, Wayne Kelly, Vallon Adams all added one try each. Rowell Gordon also added a pair of tries in the second half.

Just before the end, Royalians softened the blow with a try from Samuel, which was once again converted by Guerra. The match was played simultaneously with Stag Trinidad Northern’s 19-0, four point win over Rainbow.

Northern is already out of the running for the league title, but remains with glory to play for when it comes up against Caribs in the highly-anticipated annual Bruno Browne derby match, which is both a cup and league fixture.

The match takes place on Saturday at the Queen’s Park Oval, from 4 pm.

To win the league title outright, Caribs will need to win with a bonus point, which is secured when a team scores four or more tries in a victory. Caribs, which remains a point above Harvard can lift the title, even if it does not win with a bonus point, due to its superior “goal-difference”, which stands at 208, 52 points more than Harvard. Therefore, if Caribs wins but does not secure a bonus point, and Harvard takes a massive win with a bonus point, which see its overtake Caribs on goal-difference then the champion will defend its title,

A draw for Caribs and Northern, and a win for Harvard will also see Harvard win the championship.

The reverse fixture in the first round between Northern and Caribs ended in a 15-15 stalemate.

Harvard, meanwhile, took a bonus point, default 28-0 win over Rainbow in the first leg. Rainbow sits bottom of the standings without a win for the season.

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