Police and Teachers teams won a match each in the Duckett Memorial at Police Field on Saturday.

In the first fixture of the day, Teachers women triumphed 32-17, while the Police men’s side defeated Teachers 45-12.

Renegades saw off Bermudiana’s, a new youth team, 34-17 in another women’s league match played on the day.

At the conclusion of the day’s festivities on the field, Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of Police, presented the Roseanda Young trophy to the Teachers women, with the Police men’s side getting the Duckett Memorial shield.

Lauren Rothwell, who scored two tries for Teachers women, was pleased with the way her team started the season.

“It was the first game of the season, so it’s a tough adjustment to go from just training to back into playing a full match,” she told The Royal Gazette.

“The 20-minute halves are always a lot harder than you think they’re going to be, but it was good.

“It was a really competitive match to start off and ultimately, we came out on top. It was a lot of fun and it’s a great way to celebrate the Duckett Memorial for the Police Club.

“It’s always great to join the clubs in remembering their past and lost players. It’s a nice way to celebrate their memory and keep the spirit of the game going.”

Looking at the season ahead, Rothwell believes all the teams are capable of providing strong competition.

“I think it’s going to be a competitive season,” she said.

“There’s been a lot of changes with a lot of new players. They’re introducing the Bermudianas this year, which will be a new team, so it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like to play against them.

“Renegades and Police coming in with strong teams. I know there’s a lot of new players on the Police team, so it’ll be interesting to see how they grow and develop over the season.

“As Teachers, we are coming back with a strong veteran team. We’ve got a couple new players joining, but it’s going to be interesting to see how it all comes together.

“Our first match of the season was a hard-fought game. If that’s an indication of how the season’s going to go, it’s going to be a tough season for sure.

Police dominated the men’s encounter as they raced to a 31-5 lead at the break. They added a further 14 points in the second 40 minutes, during which Teachers managed to score a converted try.

Teachers centre Alex Doyling, who was named MVP of the men’s match, thought it was a great contest.

“It was a really good game on both sides,” the Bermuda sevens player said.

“Both sides brought out probably their best squads. Teachers, I feel, didn’t do as well as they might have hoped, but Police just had the momentum and power to win the game.”

Hadleigh Tucker, the Teachers captain, felt that some of the referee’s calls could have gone either way.

“It was a tough first game and it was scrappy,” Tucker said.”

“I think a lot of 50-50 calls, some went to Police and some went to us, but I think there were some frustrations that came out as well.

“I spoke to my team throughout the game and after the game and the message was, let’s keep our heads up, keep on playing the game.

“I think we’re all out here for a reason, to support the Police team, support rugby in Bermuda. We want to leave whatever happened in this match behind and go on to the next week.”

Teachers have been dominating domestic rugby for years, as they have been league champions every season post-Covid.

“We’ve become the team to beat I guess,” Tucker said.

“We’re going to have a chat about what Teachers rugby is going to look like this season, especially after this game. From there we can develop and get back to playing the kind of rugby that we’re proud of on the weekends.

“The big thing for us is having some more consistency from the guys. We had a couple of guys that couldn’t make it today for this match, so we’ve got to strategise on the personnel and try and get the best out of the team.”

Simons congratulated the Police men’s team for winning this time around, after losing to the Bermuda Rugby Football Board President’s XV a year ago.

“So normally I come here and I’m commiserating with the Police team,” the commissioner said.

“It seems it’s a different case this year as our men’s team won. Well done Teachers, I hope to come here next year again, to commiserate with you and well done to Police.

“Police and sport are synonymous. It’s an opportunity for us to connect with the community.”