STAG Trinidad Northern and Harvard Club will do battle today for the prestigious Marcus Minshall Cup in what is expected to be an intriguing clash at the Queen’s Park Oval at 4pm.
Preceding the marquee encounter is the women’s ten-a-side knockout final between Royalains and Romans at 2pm.
On Thursday, Harvard’s rugby team held their final training session ahead of their meeting with Trinidad Northern and coach Larry Mendez declared that he was satisfied with the attitude and commitment showed by his players.
“They are ready. There was no complacency and overconfidence. The guys know that Trinidad Northern have won four cup finals including the 2010 (final) when we were beaten by them,” he said.
Mendez noted that the competition is fierce among his squad to be in the starting 15 for the final which he says is a good thing. He reminded his players, however, that all must be prepared to take the field at any given time.
“There is a good team spirit so the players on the bench know for tactical or other reasons they must be ready to play.”
Meanwhile, Stag Trinidad Northern, still licking their wounds after last week’s defeat to Caribs in the Bruno Browne Cup, have no time to sulk and must gear up for this important clash.
Their coach, Rhett Chee Ping, is confident, however, that they can compete against Harvard and lift the Marcus Minshall Cup. He believes that once they correct the errors that occurred against Caribs, they stand a good chance of winning the game.
“We know Harvard are fitter than us and will try to play a quicker, more expansive game. We will try to keep the game in the scrum,” he declared.
Chee Ping explained that his team is hungry for silverware as they have not won this Cup for two years and have missed out on the league title for yet another year.
“This would be a good boost to the team,” he declared.
Today’s clash is an intriguing battle of contrasting rugby strategy and philosophy against two teams very familiar with each other.
Beaten twice by Harvard this year in the Toyota Championship League, Trinidad Northern are masters at winning big games and Cup finals.
Trinidad Northern captured the 42nd edition of the Marcus Minshall Cup final in 2010, defeating Harvard Club 23-15 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The Harvard Club rugby team’s history dates back to Guevaras rugby club founded in 1972 and Falcons established in 1983. The two clubs merged to form GF Utd in 1993 before joining Harvard Club in 1998.
Using 1972 as a rugby start point, the Tragarete road-based Harvard Club’s rugby team has gone 39 years without winning a Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) senior men’s 15-a-side rugby title.
The Marcus Minshall Cup is local rugby’s equivalent of football’s prestigious FA Cup and is very well respected.
Named after former player, Marcus Minshall, the Cup is a symbol of his passion, commitment and dedication to the Corinthian values of sport and rugby in particular.
Source: www.newsday.co.tt