Samba vs Soca rugby October 11

And Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) president Leslie Figaro is urging all fans to wear red to support the home team.

The match will kick off at 4 pm and officials are hoping to make the event a family affair.

Tickets are reasonably priced at $40 for adults and $20 for children. Figaro also revealed that children under the age of 12 will enter free while red jerseys will be on sale by the TTRFU at $100. Tickets and jerseys can be bought at any of the nation’s rugby clubs or at the TTRFU office at 628-9048.

He promised a treat for fans with TT still trying to book a place at the Rugby World Cup for the first time.

At a media launch at the ANSA McAl Corporate Box at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain yesterday Figaro said he expects TT to dominate the Brazilians, although the local team has not had the type of preparation it was hoping for.

National coach Rhett Chee Ping said he has been attempting to track the Brazilians but has been unable to get footage on their style of play.

He also revealed that he could not get practice against opponents that play a similar style to the Brazilians because of the huge costs involved.

But he was quick to point out that the South Americans who are ranked 45th in the world, play a slower type of rugby than the local style.

As such Chee Ping, who represented Trinidad and Tobago during the 1999 qualifiers said he hopes to use their faster style of rugby as an advantage.

The Trinidad and Tobago team will be boosted by the return of United Kingdom based Selwyn St Bernard, Damian Martinez and Nigel Arismandez who were expected in Trinidad last night.

The trio will be featured today in the national team in a friendly encounter against a President’s 15 at Harvard’s Ground, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain from 4 pm.

Chee Ping told the media yesterday that he sees no difficulty in the overseas players fitting in the team because it was done before.

“Some of the players were in the team for the Caribbean Championship and it worked nicely so I do not see any trouble with them fitting in,” Chee Ping noted.

After the October 11 encounter the TT team will journey to South America for the second leg which is scheduled for October 18 at a venue in Brazil yet to be announced.

Trinidad and Tobago overcame regional rivals Guyana 40-24 to be crown Caribbean champions while the Brazilians got the better of host nation Paraguay 15-6 in the “CONSUR B” tournament in Asuncion at the end of June.

Should TT advance in the two-game series, they will join Chile and Uraguay in the “CONSUR A” Rugby World Cup in May next year.

The last time the teams met in a World Cup qualifier was in 2003 when Trinidad and Tobago were edged 11-10 after going past regional rivals Jamaica, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to advance to round two of the qualifiers.

The former national player, who is now a coach said his only concern for was the support the team would get at the Arima venue.

The local rugby football union had been embroiled in a battle with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) for the use of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo for the qualifying encounter. According to Chee Ping most people prefer to attend matches at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

The TT team is scheduled to practice on Monday and Wednesday for the encounter from 7 pm at the match venue. The Brazil rugbymen are expected to arrive on Thursday.