The 2015-16 Bermuda Rugby Football Season promises to be an exciting year for rugby both locally and globally according to Sean Field-Lament, President Bermuda Rugby Football Union.
“All lovers of our game are gearing up for the World Cup of Rugby which will be followed by the Six Nation’s tournament a couple of months later. The BRFU committee has taken input from our members and a revised schedule has been created which will allow spectators and players to enjoy both events whilst still supporting local rugby. As such the rugby season kicks off with the third “Mad Hatters’ Rugby Tournament” on September 26th at National Sports Stadium. The men’s senior league will follow, consisting of four rounds with breaks for the World Rugby Classic and the World Cup Final. In conjunction with our sponsors Heineken and DHL, the BRFU will be hosting a World Cup Final Party at Pier 6 on Front street which promises to be a fantastic event and will raise money toward offsetting NSC Field costs for the clubs.
In an effort to assist youth players transitioning to the senior level, Under 19 teams will play 2nd XV games on the traditional “club days” and a new “Friday Night Lights” format has been created to have further Under 19 games against Club 2nd XVs. In total there will be eight Under 19 games against senior opponents in addition to their High School Tournaments. Youth Rugby continues to thrive and significant improvements have been made at Police field which will be the home for the Beyond Rugby and youth rugby programs. Thanks to the tireless work of John Layfield the Police field has been reborn and is in a magnificent state. Sunday Youth rugby will now take place there from September 20th through to March 20th from 10am to 12:30 pm with breaks during the half term holidays. I encourage people to support Gareth Nokes and the youth committee’s efforts by volunteering your time and support to coach or assist- it’s a very rewarding experience. The efforts of the YDO Patrick Calow now see a vibrant Ariel Re High School High school league (both in 15’s and in 7’s) running from September through to March on Wednesday evenings at National Sports Stadium. The standard of rugby is improving and the games are entertaining to say the least. Come down and watch the future of Bermuda rugby develop.
Women’s Rugby is blossoming with the amount of players getting involved increasing in all aspects –the local hybrid of women’s touch is attracting new players and in particular the BRFU is looking to grow the Nationals Women’s sevens program (tackle) with the goal of future Olympic and Commonwealth participation. The BRFU is keen to introduce FIT touch rugby to our members as it is a global brand of touch rugby. The aim is to develop rugby locally, attract overseas clubs to Bermuda to play tournaments and ultimately send National teams to the FIT Rugby World Cup. To that end a FIT tournament involving women’s, men’s and mixed teams will be held during the year.
The National teams have several challenges on the cards for the year, Rugby America North (formerly NACRA) tournaments for Women’s, Men’s and U19 all culminating in World Cup Qualifying matches early next year. The National Sevens program under Jonathan Cassidy and Tom Healy continues to drive local talent development in this specialized area. The partnership with Serevi continues with XL’s support of the Atavus training program. The year of rugby will finish off with the annual Mid Atlantic Cup with Harlequins returning to the island.
All these initiatives demonstrate the BRFU commitment to driving our mission of “Developing Rugby in Bermuda.”
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