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The first round of the Bermuda rugby league took place at Malabar on Saturday in very difficult conditions. With a strong cross-field wind, it was always going to be difficult for the teams to play expansive rugby, and whoever adapted their game plan to suit the weather best would have a major advantage.

Women's rugby

Renegades 9, Teachers 2

The first game on the cards was the Renegades ladies playing against Teachers, and the reigning champions were again at their best to secure a comprehensive victory over their rivals.

Player of the Year Amy Harvey-McGlynn was again brilliant and her pace and powerful running were too much for the Teachers to handle.

Her great form continued as she crossed for four tries, and she was well supported by Melissa Fields (2), Ruth Boo Leston, Katie Partington and Karen Peckett, who each scored a try apiece.

Teachers defended bravely with Kim Spencer and Melissa DaPonte making some great flags, but they couldn't stop the 'Gades onslaught. The final score was 9-2 to the ladies in black.

Mariners 11, Police 3

The other ladies match pitted Mariners against Police. Mariners started superbly, with some fantastic moves and strong running creating a lot of space out wide.

Amanda Swan caused numerous problems with her speed, and she opened the scoring when capitalizing on good work in the centre. Swan would score again, along with Amy Turner, Chantal Brown and a fine breakaway try from Amanda Maenpaa, as Mariners overran Police in the first half to lead 5-0. Police refused to lie down though, and scored three quick tries after the restart.

Anna Knapman-Scott with two and Lauren Wilson scored their tries, with Liz Copeland playing a big part in the mini revival with an energetic display and good support play. Mariners kicked on after that, and Swan, Turner and Brown all completed hat-tricks to add to a score from Kelly-Anne Broom that saw them finish 11-3 victors.

Men's

Mariners 36, Police 0

The first men's match was Mariners against a severely depleted Police side, which played the whole game with fewer players.

Credit must go to them for their performance, as they played intelligent defense and didn't allow Mariners much space.

It didn't look good early on though after Alun Thomas went on a terrific run to beat a number of tackles and score under the posts.

Not long after, inspirational skipper Rich Brown again led by example, plunging over the line after outstanding work from the Mariners forwards. He then added his second and Mark Pomeroy added the conversion to leave Mariners looking strong. Great work from Rich Fisher saw Rob Brown score for Mariner as they led 22-0 at the break.

Police were much stronger in the second half and Jamie Webb, Dave Bird, Durnferd Davies and Tom Edwards impressed as they tried to take the game to the men in green.

They didn't end up scoring, but kept Mariners down to only two more tries. Gary Brady flopped over for the first one and the returning Bongani Ndlovu grabbed the second, Pomeroy adding one conversion and Duncan Milne the other. A decent start for Mariners with a 36-0 win, but Police captain Jamie Webb, while disappointed to be only able to field 13 due to an injury ravaged side, was very proud of the performance of his team.

Renegades 0, Teachers 16

The final match was the President's Cup match between league and Nicol Shield champions Renegades and Teachers. Teachers were very much up for this encounter and their forwards in particular were dominant.

It was a slow start with both sides trying to get a feel for the conditions, keeping the ball in tight in the difficult conditions. There were some huge hits put in early on, as neither side wanted to give an inch.

Eventually the Teachers forwards got on top, with the back row of James Dockeray, Luke Burgess and Mike Barthuizen brilliant as they secured great possession and turned over some quality ball.

Some Renegades indiscipline at the break-down led to Chris Naylor kicking two penalties to edge the Teachers 6-0 ahead at the half. The second half wasn't much more open, as the backs watched the forwards battle hard for the most part.

Conor McGlynn, Mariner Jackson and Pete Dunkley were working hard for Renegades but couldn't get the edge. Another penalty, this time from Dave Porter, put further distance between the sides.

Young player of the Year from last season, Shauntino Simons, then scored the game's only try after a wonderful piece of opportunism and some tremendous support from his pack. Porter nailed the kick to give the Teachers a great start to the season.

This weekend's action sees Mariners play Teachers and Police against Renegades, all at Malabar. Action kicks off at 1 p.m. and should be a great day's rugby.

* Gary Brady is the public relations officer for the Bermuda Rugby Football Union[[In-content Ad]]

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