BERMUDA'S national rugby squad are working hard to prepare for the regional World Cup qualifiers in Cayman in April as the team aim to return to their position of a powerhouse in the regional.

Bermuda Rugby Football Union president Dave Worsfold has been cheered by the news that the winners will play the winners of the first round of the South America play-offs.

"The qualifying route has been changed back to what it was before the last World Cup," he told the Mid-Ocean News this week.

"Whereas before the winners of the West Indies went into a group with the US and Canada which was fairly farcical ¿ Barbados played both and got thrashed in both as you would imagine. They have now reverted back to the old group which against a similar level of side in South America.

"It definitely gives you more opportunities to play if you win the West Indies (division) ¿ but the way they have scheduled it we are one of the only groups where you don't get a home and away play-off.

"They just do it as a one-week tournament which means you can end up playing four games in a week which is pretty heavy going but unfortunately that's the way they set the qualification."

Bermuda's training has already started. The last game the national side were involved in was the World Rugby Classic match against Argentina late last year but practice games will be played over the next few weeks against club sides.

Worsfold said he hopes the Cayman national stadium will be used as it has floodlights and will allow for games to be played in the cooler night air rather than being crammed into the heat of the day.

"It is better in April than it would have been in August," he said. "Unfortunately April is not particularly a good time for us. We have a lot of youngsters coming through but the problem is it's exam time ¿ they are all away at school and it is unlikely we will get many of them to come away in April.

"It's a bit of handicap for us but at least it is just after a season rather than in the middle of the summer. You can't have everything."

He said Bermuda might be without back row players Alan Steynor and Gareth Williams and outside half Ian Scotton.

"Those guys trained last year for the Caribbean Championship which didn't happen because of the hurricane. They are going to be missed although they are trying to see what they can arrange."

The tournament will take place between April 19 and 27, and as many as 350 players, officials and coaches are expected to attend in the form of 11 international teams that will include Mexico, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, St Vincent, Guyana and British Virgin Islands.

Barbados are likely to be strong having won the last World Cup qualifier said Worsfold.

"They went over the UK for a training camp ¿ they will be the side to beat. But nobody played last year so it is difficult to gauge where everybody is.

"We have been very disappointed with our performances over the last couple of years. Maybe we have slipped back a bit ¿ other unions have come forward quite a lot. We are working hard to get back on top of the Caribbean."

In local rugby top of the table Teachers take on Renegades on Sunday followed by the Police v Mariners fixture in the Paul Marsden Memorial game at Police field.

And there is more rugby going on as tonight will see the Bermuda Onions Rugby Football Club return to action on the field with a trio of matches scheduled at BAA Field against the Limeys.

The Mini Onions Under-12 team (The Shallots) will kick off against the Mini Limeys at 5.15 followed by the Women's Onions team versus the Women's Rest team at 6 p.m. and the showcase men's event at 6.30 p.m.

The Bermuda Onions RFC was originally formed in Bermuda rugby's heydays of the early 1990s.

Following an ambitious tour to the Far East in 1992 by the Bermuda National Team, Bermudian players Robert Blee, David Cooke, Alvin Harvey and William McNiven founded the club to offer Bermudians more opportunity to be involved in the sport.

The match between the Bermudian-only club and the Limeys, a team made up of English expatriates, used to be a permanent fixture on the schedule. However it lay dormant for years after founding members of the Onions gravitated away from the game to other interests. "But we are back," stressed club president Heath Robinson.

He added: "The Onions club has been revitalised with a new organising committee and we are preparing for a very active year. We are looking at entering several local and international tournaments including the Bermuda Sevens, Cayman Sevens, Caribbean Championship Sevens in Trinidad and the Montreal Sevens, as well as 15-a-side tournaments."

The new Bermuda Onions RFC Committee is comprised of Chairman Derek Hurdle Snr, Robinson, Vice President Ross Webber, Secretary David Cooke and Treasurer Robert Blee.

Admission to Friday's matches at BAA is free and a meal and refreshments will be served in the clubhouse at 8 p.m.