The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

OVERMATCHED by some of the more experienced teams in the draw, the Bahamas struggled on day one of Rugby Sevens competition at the VI Commonwealth Youth Games.

The team finished the day 0-3 with lopsided losses to Fiji (59-0), Samoa (59-5) and England (74-0) yesterday at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

Team Bahamas head coach Karl Rogers said his team of relative newcomers showed promise against some of the top programmes in the world, highlighted by their lone try of the day in the match against Samoa.

"Some of these boys have only been playing rugby for six months and the guys they were playing against have been playing the game probably as soon as they can walk, so tough day at the office but these guys have learned a lot," he said.

"The highlight for me was scoring a try against Samoa - they look like one of the better teams here, they beat England. It's a hard day but we'll continue to work. All we can do is rest, talk about our strengths and weaknesses from day one and try to get back to it. They learned a lot and I think they will do much better on day two."

The Bahamas continues play today with matches against Canada at 9:45am and against Sri Lanka at noon.

"It's a tribute to the type of athletes we have here. Some of these guys have only been playing for such a short period of time and the growth they have made is tremendous but they have to go toe to toe with the world's best so it would be tough for anyone, but with this experience they'll only get better," Rogers said.

"The exposure itself is amazing. It's such a great experience. You only get better by playing the best," he added.

A member of the national team coaching staff and Freeport Rugby Club, Kyle Charlton said rugby continues to grow at the developmental level which bodes well for future national team programmes.

"We are in a growing process in the sport. It'll take some education on it, I know some people may be afraid of the game but it's a fun and a disciplined sport, I advise people to come out.

"I know Nassau has a growing programme with about 40 athletes and in Grand Bahama we have about 100 athletes from under-5 to under-19 so I must say rugby is growing in the Bahamas," he said. "The effort was great knowing they haven't played rugby very long. We've played in several test tournaments in the past three months to prep them but these are some of the best teams in the world so no matter the result, I'm proud of them."