Top Brandz, GRFU team up for Saturday’s season opener

By Treiston Joseph

Top Brandz, under its Hairoun Lager Beer, will kick off the rugby season with a bang when teams will play for the first time for a grand prize of $200,000 on Saturday at the National Park Track and Field ground.

The best teams in Guyana along with Trinidad’s national Sevens champions Harvard will take the field in the one day tourney that will bring an international flavour to the shores of Guyana.

At the press launch on Wednesday, Second Vice-President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Rawle Toney, noted the magnitude of Top Brandz contribution to the sport.

“This is the first lucrative tournament of its kind, in addition to having Trinidad Sevens champions Harvard featuring our very own Claudius Butts coming here to play and we want to thank Hairoun and Top Brandz for this support.”

“In fact it’s the perfect way for us to kick-start the season with the quality of players that will be here that will also include Kevin McKenzie from Australia playing for the Hornets, but this tournament will give the guys a foundation for the rest of 2018,” Toney noted.

Marketing Manager at Top Brandz, Marvin Wray, was pleased to be onboard with the tournament and noted that the success of rugby in Guyana is good.

“I’ve followed the sport and what rugby has done is nothing short of exceptional and we are happy to support that development; we are looking for ways to continue development and giving back to you our consumers is important to us. 

“Other organisation might be bigger but we have bigger hearts and we will continue to support these guys because we believe in them,” Wray shared. 

In addition, Toney noted that the rugby females will also be in with a chance to kick-start their season.

The tournament is set to start from 11:00h on Saturday with the males playing for the top prize of $200,000, while second will receive $100,000. The females will also play for a cash prize that is yet to be determined. 

Both Wray and Toney urged the fans to support the event that will also provide fans with a fantastic atmosphere at the track and field ground in the National Park.