Three Trinidad and Tobago rugby stars have been selected on the West Indies Sevens team for the International Rugby Board’s World Sevens Series which will be held in San Diego, USA in February.


Three Quarters/Backs Andre Cabrera, Kelson Figaro and United Kingdom-born Bevon Armitage were all expected to assemble with the team in neighbouring Barbados yesterday for a one-week camp in Bridgetown.

Barbadian Kurt Johnson, who is also based in the United Kingdom was expected to join the team yesterday.


Manager of the team is Curtis Nero of TT. The tournament is scheduled for February 9-10 and some of the world’s top rugby nations will be in action.


Meanwhile the Trinidad and Tobago national 15 team will continue its preparations for the upcoming Rugby World Cup qualifiers in April in the Cayman Islands.


Source: Newsday

Brian Lewis, secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) has described Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul’s decision to recall all officers given leave to participate in sports as “a backward step for sport.”


Although he acknowledged the issue of crime was a serious one, Lewis argued that participation in sport is a constructive activity and “not just a game.”


He noted that the 2008 rugby season begins in June and he is concerned about how the commissioner’s ban would affect the league since the Police Sports Club is a member of the league since its founding in 1978.

“I would hope that there would be some reconsideration of this stance by then,” Lewis said.
“We are not at a level where sport is viewed as a critical component in TT society, people still believe that sport is frivolous,” he argued.

The TTRFU secretary compared the situation to that of a child preparing to write an exam but is banned by their parent from participating in sport.

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Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Union(TTRFU) vice-president Leslie Figaro believes that rugby sevens should be on the 2009 Caribbean Games programme.


Figaro said that rugby's popularity is growing and having rugby sevens at the inaugural games to be hosted in T&T "makes sense" as the sport is a medal sport at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2011 Pan Am Games.


He expressed disappointment that the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee(TTOC) will host a landmark event such as the Caribbean Games and limit it to five sports.

"It is an opportunity to expose some of the sports that may not have received a fair share of attention. Rugby is not the only one."

Trinidad and Tobago rugby referee Larry Mendez has been appointed as a touch judge for the 2008 USA Sevens in San Diego, California.


The two-day international sevens tournament, which will be held next February 9-10, is part of the International Rugby Board ( IRB ) World Sevens series.


The best rugby sevens nations and players in the world will be in San Diego.


Mendez, a police officer, is a former national player who represented T&T at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games. He is the current Harvard Club rugby coach and a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union (T&TRFU) selection committee.


The former Tranquility Government Secondary School student said he was looking forward to the challenge of working with some of the best rugby officials in the world.

"It is a fantastic opportunity and one I intend to embrace. I have to get very fit, not only physically but also mentally. There is a lot at stake for the teams and players and the officials are under a lot of pressure ... the pace of the game is very fast and intense," Mendez said.

Mendez is following in the footsteps of fellow Trinidadian referees Paul Mowser and Anthony Pontiflette, who both officiated in previous USA Sevens.


He was appointed to the referee panel for the 2007 NAWIRA Sevens tournament held in Bahamas in November.

T&TRFU vice-president Leslie Figaro said Mendez has the ability and self-confidence to do well in San Diego.

"The real challenge for Larry will be to do well enough so that he will be invited back to future World Sevens series."

Source: T&T Express

English-born Bevon Armitage has been included in the West Indies Sevens Rugby Team for the Sevens World Series Tournament next year.


Armitage who plays for Esher in National League One, is a member of a well-known rugby family in England.

His brothers Deleon and Steffon play for London Irish in the Guinness Premier League while another sibling Guy is also on the books of London Irish.

Armitage whose mother Verna is Trinidadian declared his interest in playing for the twin-island republic earlier this year.


The West Indies Rugby Union (WIRU) announced a 12-member squad for the International Rugby Board’s Sevens World Series tournament which will be held February 9-10 next year in San Diego, California, United States. Players were selected following the NAWIRA Sevens tournament will enter a mini-camp in Trinidad and the Carib Beer Trinidad and Tobago sevens.


Team: Jeremico Cooper (Bahamas), Claudius Butts (Guyana), Kevin McKenzie, Richard Staglon, Theodore Henry, Albert La Rose, Andre Carbera (TT), Kelson Figaro, Bevon Armitage, Elroy Graham (Jamaica), Donald Walters, Kurt Johnson (Barbados)


Reserves: Giovanni Rolle (Bahamas), Ronald Mayers (Guyana), Dane Parks, Nicholas Pusey (Jamaica), Jason Clarke (TT).


Comment: If you're going international, why not pick his brothers, Delon (winger) and Steffon Armitage (Flanker) who are both first team players for London Irish. In fact, if you try hard enough, you could probably bypass the Caribben altogether. Ring any bells, Barbados..... - Ed


Source: Newsday, T&T