beaming with pride yesterday when it was revealed that more than half of the squad going to the Caribbean tournament in Trinidad next month are Bermudian-born.

It marks a significant change from the days when the majority of national team members were expatriates and also reflects a subtle change taking place within the domestic game.

There were 22 players named after Sunday's Amstel League games, and 12 of the players chosen are Bermudian.

The make-up of the roster will also contain 11 players from Teachers, who have begun this season with three consecutive wins and have dominated league play so comprehensively with their awesome offensive flurries.

Rookie Butch Robinson, for instance, has been named to the team and he has singlehandidly used the National Sports Club pitch as his own personal launching pad with spectacular dashes furnished with sizzling pinpoint tries -- four of them in three games -- that could easily be standard fare for CNN and ESPN updates.

Robinson has shown no signs of being a typical rookie -- resembling a young foal trying to walk on rickety legs or having trouble standing up on his own.

Robinson will be joined by several other Bermudians, including team-mates Billy McNiven, David Cook, Ashley Redmond, Terry Walsh, Patrick Cooper, Andrew and Scott Correia, Andre Simons and Alvin Harvey, who will be captain of the squad.

The two other Bermudians will be Police skipper Sean Field and Sean Kelly of Renegades. Field will be the team's assistant captain.

Other players named to the team are Danny Forsythe, Tom Dixon and Phil Heaney of Renegades, Neil Alexander, Jonah Jones, Dave Conway and Keith Beattie of Mariners, Richard Raistrick of Teachers and Danny Cozens and Gareth Davies of Police.

Scott Correia, in fact, was part of the Bermuda line-up when the island last sent a team to the Carribean tournament in the early 1980s. Other countries in the 1993 tournament are Trinidad, Venezuala, Martinique, Guadaloupe and Guyana.

"It's a double burst of pride,'' said Harvey yesterday. "Making the team and then having the most Bermudians ever selected. This tournament will mean a lot to those of us who are Bermudian. We'll be playing our hearts out. We're going with a lot of pride and commitment because of that fact.'' National team coach Keiron Peacock said yesterday that he is pleased with the overall make-up of his team, revealing that the selection committee took little more than half an hour to choose it.

Once again a decided edge was given to players who have participated in training sessions since July.

"I'm very happy,'' Peacock said. "These guys have worked very hard and there's a good atmosphere. The team spirit is already there.

"This team is mobile and quite fit,'' he added. "We'll have strength in our backs, so we'll have to supply a steady stream of ball to them. It also has a nice balance of youth and experience.'' Peacock will have eight more training sessions to get his team ready for the tournament and that could be crucial since the players will see action in only two more games before the team leaves for Trinidad on November 27.

Those two matches are the Onions v Limeys on November 11 and league games on November 21, with the World Rugby Classic interrupting the schedule for a few weeks.

"It's probably not a good thing, since nothing is worse than sitting back, but it does allow us specific time to work on things,'' said Peacock.

Mariners captain Conway, happy with his team's stunning victory over Renegades on Sunday, feels singularly fortunate since the last time he made a national team he had to back out because of work commitments.

"I was hopeful that I would be selected,'' said Conway. "But I'm especially pleased that three other Mariners were selected.'' Harvey, perhaps already thinking about an undefeated season for Teachers, expressed disppointment that team-mates Ron Hook and Michael Montgomery were left off the squad. But he did have praise for several of the Teachers who did make the roster.

"With backs like Simons and Robinson we'll be quick off the mark. We'll be a lot better on ballhandling than the other teams in the tournament, too.''