Some people passing Saltus Grammar School yesterday might have rubbed their eyes to ensure they were seeing right, writes Gayle Alleyne.

For the first time in ages, schoolboys engaged in a competitive game of rugby as part of the Bermuda Rugby Football Union's effort to reintroduce the sport in schools.

For the past month, Brian Toms and Chris Naylor have been in the forefront of this initiative, starting up clubs at Saltus and Sandys Middle School. The two schools were brought together yesterday for a friendly competition in which the hosts prevailed, winning both matches by a small margin.

"While the primary schools have tag rugby - which is non-contact - what we're trying to do is re-establish the full game of rugby which includes full contact, tackling and everything else. That can only be done at age 11 and above. We have not had real rugby in the schools for many years.

"Today (yesterday) was the first time something like this happened for many years. It was extremely successful. The kids just loved it.

"Now, our plans are to carry on doing this until the end of the term and possibly into next term when we can bring more schools in," said Toms, adding that Warwick Academy has expressed an interest in joining the programme in the future.

Noting that rugby flourished in Bermudian schools during the 1970s and 1980s with seven-a-side and senior (Under-16 and Under-17) rugby before petering out in the late 1980s to early 1990s, he said the "overall grand plan" is to try and keep these youngsters interested in the game through to senior level.

"I'm optimistic that out of about 35 or 40 children we can keep working with about 30 percent of that group. You're going to lose some along the way but that would still be a reasonable number to have," said Toms who is looking forward to the revival of age-group teams and regular matches among teenager players.