BERMUDA'S national rugby captain, Bobby Hurdle, scored the West Indies sole try at last weekend's International Los Angeles Sevens Tournament in California where the Windies came up against such world powerhouses like the New Zealand All Black,s Australia, Samoa and Tongo.

And although the Windies were beaten by fairly big scores, Hurdle said he saw improvement with the select side which had to quickly gel together with only a week of training.

"You have to realise that these other teams are professional and have worked together for quite a long time," he said on his return to Bermuda.

Competing in the LA Sevens with the Windies saw Hurdle miss the 20th anniversary of the Denton Hurdle Memorial games last Sunday which saw his local club Teachers take on the Rest. Denton Hurdle, Bobby's uncle, died suddenly in 1985.

Of his trip to the US west coast, Hurdle said: "It was a good experience. We did ourselves well. We achieved what we didn't do in previous tournaments which make it a bit more difficult for them. We have come a long way. Most of these teams had been to the Wellington Sevens the week before so they had played a full tournament so you know they had already sharpened their skills and were just implementing them so it was a bit difficult for us to just come together so quick and go up against a professional outfit."

In fact Hurdle scored the Windies sole try in their match against New Zealand. He said: "Basically I was in support of one of my players and he chipped the ball through and I just ran and picked it up."

The Windies ended the tournament going down 52-0 to Samoa in the quarter final of the bowl event for first round losers. The Windies were also previously beaten 50-5 by New Zealand, 33-0 by Australia and 43-0 by Tongo.

England meanwhile sent a message during tournament at the Home Depot Center when they capped a dominant weekend performance with a 38-5 beating of Fiji in the championship game and moved into sole possession of second place in International Rugby Board Sevens series.

England outscored their six opponents, 190-44.