T&T's se­nior men's rug­by team made its first in­ter­na­tion­al ap­pear­ance in just un­der a year count on Sat­ur­day when the team se­cured a com­fort­able 19-6 win away to Bar­ba­dos in the Round Two (South) Nacra Rug­by Cham­pi­onship, at the Gar­ri­son Sa­van­nah, Bridgetown.

It was a pos­i­tive re­sult for the Ca­lyp­so War­riors, which last tast­ed na­tion­al 15s ac­tion in June last year, when the team was elim­i­nat­ed from the IRB 2015 World Cup qual­i­fy­ing com­pe­ti­tion by ri­vals Guyana. On­ly a match pri­or to the dis­ap­point­ing loss suf­fered in Guyana last year, T&T met Bar­ba­dos and won 32-3.

Sat­ur­day's re­sult saw T&T climb to the top of the three-team ta­ble on equal points (four) with Guyana, which de­feat­ed Bar­ba­dos 19-17 a week pri­or ibn the Nacra Cham­pi­onship open­er. Bar­ba­dos, hav­ing lost its two match­es was ruled out of pro­gres­sion to the cham­pi­onship match against the win­ner of the North Zone (con­sist­ing of USA South, Cay­man Is­lands and Bermu­da).

The next test for the Lar­ry Mendez-coached T&T team comes a week af­ter, this Sat­ur­day, when the team faces Guyana is what is ex­pect­ed to be a thrilling en­counter at St Mary's Col­lege Ground, Ser­pen­tine Road. A win will en­sure T&T Round Three ac­tion against USA South, which topped the North di­vi­sion af­ter two wins. The date for the Round Three match is yet to be de­cid­ed.

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