January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Rugby team takes on American squad
The match, on Saturday, is designed as a get together for the top players from the domestic league as well as a first step towards returning Bermuda to the pinnacle of Caribbean rugby.
Lawrence Bird, who will be coaching the side, said the guys, a mix of foreign workers and Bermudians, were looking to use the trip as a good warm-up for the World Rugby Classic.
The national select is hoping to take on one of the visiting teams during the annual rugby festival.
“The aim is to bring the national team together again, get a fixture before the classic and play some fairly serious opposition.
“I think playing a super league side in the U.S. is ideal. It will be a very tough game.
“If we win, it will be great. If we lose narrowly we will have learned a lot.
“It’s a learning experience, an opportunity to play some international rugby and the chance to keep up the profile of the sport.”
He said Bermuda had been overtaken by some of the other Caribbean nations.
Playing regularly against quality opposition was the key to getting back to the top, he added.
He highlighted Renegades’ Irish scrum half Tom Healy, last season’s player of the year, as a potential star.
Veteran Scottish Centre Stewart Thomson and Bermudian fly-half Mike Kane were also highlighted as potential danger-men.
He said the Washington squad played in the top flight of American rugby and included U.S. Eagles international star full-back Francois Viljoen.[[In-content Ad]]
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