Bermuda men’s rugby team captain Darren Richardson praised his team-mates for showing determination in their 55-5 defeat to USA South in an international friendly match at Flora Duffy Stadium on Saturday.

While Dzuri Gill scored Bermuda’s only try of the encounter after a great combination with Hadleigh Tucker, Bermuda matched their highly fancied opponents in the second half after conceding 41 points in the first period and letting in just two tries in the last 40 minutes.

After playing against Guyana and Cayman Islands, Richardson stated that he had an idea of what they were coming up against when they faced the tough Americans, who had a player shown a straight red card and another sent to the sin bin in the second half.

“I knew going in that this would be a test in terms of a step up from levels that have been previously played,” Richardson told The Royal Gazette.

“We had to raise our game to do this and I felt we did that in the second half. Ten minutes in, we talked about it in a huddle, a switch flipped and we ran out there and we started to raise it and we started to match them.

“You could say that they started to tire, but for a team where we had very limited subs and the majority of thr team played a full 80 minutes, these boys that were on for 60 minutes had to raise the game and match fresh legs.

“I’m really proud of the effort and I’ll look forward to going again next week against Atlantic Privateers, which will be a step up again.

“We have to raise our game and this is where Bermuda rugby shines. This is where you test yourself, get better and it really bodes well for the future if we come through this learning lots of lessons and getting ready for next year.”

Richardson picked on areas where he thought they did well and what they need to work on for the next match against Privateers at the same venue on Saturday.

“Our phase play in possession was impressive,” the Bermuda team leader said.

“We were able to string multiple phases together and get them going on the back foot at times. We were up against a bigger, more physical side and us being smaller, we’re able to turn them and get them going backwards through multiple phases.

“Going into the next match, we have to focus on defensive intensity, early doors, just getting up in their faces, getting truck tackles in early. That second man getting over and trying to slow their ball down.”

Coach Brian Archibald also lauded the effort put in by his players against tough opposition.

“I think you can tell by the score that they were a bit better than us,” the coach said.

“The boys stuck in better than they stuck in last week against opponents that were better than Cayman as well.

“We asked them just to try and keep the ball in play a little bit more and I think they did that. We got to show ourselves a little bit more.

“A few things we’ll probably still work on next week. We’ve still got to be a bit more dynamic through contact and still got to fight a little bit harder to get a goal forward.

“But other than that, I think they fronted up well. I wish they would have come up a little bit more on defence, but you can’t fault the effort and you can’t fault the heart.”

Wing Giovani Douyon, who scored a hat-trick of tries for USA South, praised the Bermudian side for disrupting their flow in the second half.

“It feels good to be able to score a hat-trick for the team,” he said.

“The boys did what they were supposed to do, which allowed me to be able to finish the runs for us.

“But other than that, it was just a very cohesive run by the team and then I was just a lucky person to be able to finish it off.

“We really wanted to focus on being able to execute things. I think that we did that very well in the first half.

“It kind of got away from us in the second half, but at the same time, while saying that, Bermuda’s team did very well in being able to disrupt us.

“They got us to have a red card and yellow card, which put us at a disadvantage against them. They did everything they could to capitalise on that and make sure that we were uncomfortable the rest of the game.

“A very fun side to play, a very scrappy side to play, a young side that has a lot to develop, but they show signs of a lot of potential. So I’m very excited to see what the Bermuda national team achieves in the future.”

USA South are back in action on Tuesday night when they face Privateers, a fixture Douyon is eagerly anticipating.

“We’ll be playing Tuesday against Atlantic Privateers, a high-performance select side from Canada,” he said.

“I’m very excited about that because I’m from Canada as well. So to get to play against the boys, see what they’ve been up to, I'm really looking forward to that, just being able to put on another show and help the team come out with a win.”