The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

After a disappointing exit from NACRA 15s Championships and IRB World Cup Qualification contention, the Bahamas Rugby Football Union (BRFU) now shifts its focus to international 7s play.

The BRFU 7s national squad is all set on the regional qualifier for the 2013 RWC Sevens Finals which is scheduled to take place at Twin Elms Rugby Park in Ottawa, Canada, August 25-26.

Two teams from the tournament will emerge and qualify for the finals set to be held in Russia.

Canada and the United States will be strong favourites, with expected opposition from Caribbean champions Guyana.

The Bahamas will join the field which also includes Bermuda, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Bahamas does not have a women's team entered.

However, the women's tournament has Canada slated as the favourites to go through and will face competition from contenders Guyana, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Barbados, St Vincent and The Grenadines and the current leading Caribbean women's team, Trinidad & Tobago.

According to BRFU executives: "Rugby Sevens is seen as a complete development tool for players, improving their core skills as well as developing them holistically as they are forced to perform in highly pressured environments."

The aim of the Bahamas National Sevens programme is to provide a route for dedicated and capable players to refine their rugby skills through regular exposure at an international level.

"By developing our top players to a high enough standard they become attractive to clubs in established rugby playing nations who will hopefully offer them the chance to play overseas," the BRFU said on its website.

Internationally, the Bahamas has competed at the Commonwealth Sevens.

While it remains an emerging force regionally, the Bahamas boasted four players on the West Indies Sevens squad and was at one point ranked fifth in the Caribbean.

In 2008, the Bahamas hosted after the NAWIRA (North America & West Indies Rugby Association) 7s which was held in Nassau in November 2008.

Rugby 7s is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches.

It is a seen as a more spectator friendly version of the sport with frequent scoring and wide open play across the pitch.

In 15s qualification, the Bahamas suffered consecutive losses and were eliminated.

In game one, the Bahamas fell 27-7 to the Cayman Islands earlier this month.

It was the first time Cayman had beaten the Bahamas since 2003.

In game two, the Bahamas fell 16-8 to Bermuda in their second game of the North Zone group.