Harlequins will visit Bermuda next year for the “Big Game” fixture against Bermuda Barbarians.

Quins will replace Saracens, who toured the Island in 2013 and 2014, for the match in June, and the Bermuda Rugby Football Union is working on a deal to bring Quins back in 2016 as well.

The game will be the centrepiece of a week that the BRFU hope to eventually turn into a festival of rugby, with officials looking at the creation of a Mid Atlantic Youth Tournament, as well as organising fixtures for the men and women’s national teams.

Ultimately the BRFU want to expand the “Big Game” and Sean Field-Lament, the BRFU president, held talks with Bath Rugby Club recently about having them come out in the years following Harlequins.

“My vision is to expand Bermuda’s footprint in the rugby world,” Field-Lament said. “Everyone knows it for the World Rugby Classic, and now they are talking about the ‘Big Game’ too. I think Bermuda needs to work on sports tourism, and rugby has shown its track record in regards to that.”

There are also plans to revive the Ivy League Tournament, which was played in the 1960s around spring break and whose trophy is presently gathering dust in the Police trophy cabinets. “I’m very bullish on resurrecting that,” Field-Lament said.

Expanding Bermuda’s reputation internationally is just part of the BRFU’s desire to grow the game on the Island. Their burgeoning youth development programme, Beyond Rugby, is already paying dividends and Field-Lament believes that, plus more exposure internationally, can only help to improve the sport.

The national team’s performances at several Sevens competitions have helped, and the quicker, more skilful game is attracting large numbers of the Island’s youth.

“Ultimately we want the sport to grow,” Field-Lament said. “I’m a firm believer that the core values of rugby develop strong characters, and they set you up for life in a positive way. And that’s what we need for our youth in Bermuda, because a lot of people have lost their way.

“I point to the successes we have had with Beyond Rugby and how we have changed people’s lives with exposure to the game, now some [young Bermudians] are knocking on the door to the national team.”

The BRFU has already made history this year by fielding a team comprising entirely of Bermuda-born players, and with the demographics on the Island changing, the youth players now will be the national team players of the future.

Finding the youth players a home once they become ready for senior rugby is also something the BRFU are looking at. While clubs such as Mariners, whose young players were instrumental in a 45-3 demolition of Police at the weekend, have a connection with some of the youth players, other clubs do not.

To solve that issue the BRFU is considering the implementation of a draft system that would also apply to new arrivals to the Island, who traditionally would have been snapped up by friends or work colleagues.

“We need to have four viable clubs,” Field-Lament said. “I’ve been talking with the club reps and we’re considering a system very similar to Cayman. These are delicate negotiations though, it’s a huge change from the tradition of Bermuda rugby.”