Hosts Jamaica were crowned 2006 Caribbean Women's Rugby champions after beating the odds, crushing former champions Trinidad and Tobago 27-0 in the final game of the three-team competition at the UWI Mona Bowl, yesterday.

The Jamaicans, who needed to win the game by nine clear goals to have a chance at claiming the championship, went in with a mission and came out fighting from the starting whistle.

Kaydian Gayle opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, notching up the first five points with a try, dashing 100 yards and outwitting the Trinidad & Tobago defence. Eight minutes later, Gayle again ran another 100 yards through the Trinidad defence before passing the ball to Catherine Harris, whose try saw the Jamaicans go 10-0 up.

Mitsy Stewart (44th), Sherene Johnson (62nd), Anna Kaye Morris with a penalty and Gayle again in the 80th minute helped seal the deal for Jamaica.

Jamaica finished the tournament with 31 points, Trinidad and Tobago scored 15 and Guyana 14. All three teams in tournament won one game, but Jamaica won the championship on goal difference.

National coach Victor Hyde, who, in sharp contrast to the Jamaicans' last encounter (a 5-6 loss to Guyana on Thursday) was all smiles. He told Observer that the victory was a dream come true for the women's team.

"Obviously the girls realised they did not live up to expectations in the last game," he said. "The eagerness to win came out," Hyde said further.

Trinidad & Tobago's coach Kitty Andrews said she didn't believe that her team performed poorly.

"Technically, we were the better team," Andrews said. "Jamaica is better in loose play, but we didn't pressure enough and we (Trinidad & Tobago) paid the price."

Andrews was, however, upset about several refereeing decisions and cited the fact that Guyana's coach Elwin Chase also had issues with refereeing decisions when the teams met on Saturday.
"I'm representing Trinidad & Tobago so I have to be diplomatic," Andrews said, "but something was over the top... we have two different rule books".
Andrews said she personally felt that the referees were not at the standard they needed to be for international competition. "I would like to see professional referees," she said. "I don't think we should have people practising to referee in international competition."
Jamaica will be in action again in the Caribbean and North America Rugby Tournament in Barbados in November.

Meanwhile, trouble looms ahead for members of the Jamaica team who on Saturday called the media to report that they had been kicked out of the hotel in which they were staying because of unpaid bills.

Chairman of the Jamaica Rugby Union, Jacob Thompson, told the Observer that the reports were untrue.

"They were not kicked out of the hotel," Thompson said. "I asked them on Friday night to leave on Saturday morning because of financial constraints."

Thompson said because the championship was not sponsored he had to foot most of the J$1.8 million organising expense with the help of the Jamaica Defence Force.
Thompson said unforeseen costs had forced him to ask the team members to return home, but told them that they would be given bus fare to both go home and return to Up Park Camp the next day when they would be transported to the UWI Bowl.

However, coach Herman Cole who told the Observer that he was the person who called the media to Saturday's incident, said he felt disrespected. "Him bright. Don't embarrass me. Me nuh like that," Cole said.

"If he didn't have the money he could have told me, we didn't have to go to the hotel from Wednesday night. We could have gone on Friday," he said.

"Me nuh get paid, a free me do it all these years and Jamaica Rugby Union never give me nutten but a visa and me nuh run way," Cole went on to say.

However, the Jamaicans were not the only ones who were inconvenienced as the Trinidad & Tobago coach also complained that when they first arrived at the hotel they were made to sit and wait in the lobby for half-an-hour because the Jamaica Rugby Union had not paid for the rooms.

Andrews said the team had similar problems with transportation to training grounds and said they had to find their own way to training.

Nevertheless, Thompson said disciplinary action will be taken against persons who were involved in Saturday's incident.

"They were being rude and action will be taken against the persons being rude," Thompson said.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller intervened on Saturday and paid the outstanding costs for the Jamaica Rugby team to remain at the hotel.

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