The Bermuda Under-19 rugby team will start preparations for the international season by taking on Boston High School in two friendly matches, with the first taking place at North Field, National Sports Centre on Friday night (6.15pm).

With the visitors heading to Bermuda from snowy conditions on the East Coast of the United States East Coast, Bermuda coach Chris Naylor is anticipating a couple of competitive matches, with the second game being played on Sunday.

“I’m hoping for some competitive rugby,” Naylor told The Royal Gazette.

“Joe Dolan, coach of the Boston High School team, has been a regular visitor here over the last decade, maybe even longer.

“He regularly brought teams down to our Ariel Re Bermuda 7s and at other times as well. They were hit by that storm up in the East Coast of the US, but they’re looking forward to a bit of sunshine and playing some rugby.”

The inexperienced Bermuda team will be boosted by the presence of Brandon Sangster, who has already represented the island at senior level.

“Our under-19s are pretty raw as a lot of our players are UK-based at the moment,” the Bermuda coach said.

“So, the team that we’re putting out this Friday and Sunday is a raw team made up of local lads, which is great.

“We do have a couple of our senior boys who’ve had some experience playing in it, notably Dylan Sangster. He’s actually at school in Canada but is flying in to captain the team, so his presence is going to be important.

“Nyindae Smith, who’s been part of the under-19 programme for the last few years, is also playing and we’re looking forward to seeing Jahir Smith play for the under-19s.

“He’s a local boy that’s been on the outskirts of the squad for years now but has never actually played for us. We’re quite excited that he’s finally getting to play some rugby for us as he’s a good athlete and I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of damage he can do.

“Jaden Obas-Simons is another young man that was on the under-19s tour last year along with Asher Wheddon and Cameron Addiscot.

Naylor will carry out an assessment of the opposition after the first match, with the possibility to strengthen the team for the Sunday encounter.

“Once we see the sort of standard that they're at, then we’ve had the conversation that we may be able to bulk up the squad a little bit with some under-20s, under-21s, to make it a bit more competitive,” the coach added.

“My boys have been training quite well and we've got some just natural athletes, as we always do.

“If we can hone their skills and their enthusiasm, don’t get caught offside at rucks and things like that, some of the technicalities of the game, we’re going to be in a good place.”