unfortunate to have lost their first game to the eventual winners Renegades by 3-0 after dictating much of the play yesterday at Malabar Field in the Sandys Boat Club Rugby Tournament.

Had they taken two easy penalties in the first half with the score at 0-0 the Sandys Boat Club Trophy would have deservedly been theirs. However, apart from Teachers who were missing only Richard Raistrick from their regular first XV line-up, other clubs seemed to be missing several key players.

In particular, Police missed the skills of Oliver McLellan, Renegades were without Nichol, Taylor, Heaney and Whitehead while Mariners seemed to put out a second XV in the tournament.

Teachers looked decidedly fitter and in tune with the new laws than anyone else with Scott Correia playing a dazzling, often youthful game and Anthony Cupidor displaying an aggressive ball-winning game in the forwards, far outshining a listless Sean Field of Police.

Renegades, having beaten Teachers 3-0, proceeded to demolish all other contenders. They showed the only useful new exhibit in Wade Tihema, a Kiwi scrum-half who was also their best player.

Mariners were disorganised but displayed a lot of individual enthusiasm through Peter Voss and Gavin Dublin. Police took a hammering against Teachers 26-0 with Scott Correia scoring the best try of the afternoon by side-stepping players over 50 yards. In this game Police looked jaded and only Richard Tempest-Mitchell shone.

Next weekend sees the start of the normal league fixtures and on today's performance the money seems to be on Renegades and Teachers to produce the results.