The Bermuda rugby players are in "seven heaven" and head coach Lawrence Bird is "flying high" following a brilliant showing on Sunday. With their backs against the wall and facing a vocal group of home supporters in Nassau, Bahamas, the Bermudians defeated The Bahamas 19-14 to win the Plate at the annual North America and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) Sevens Tournament.

The scores were locked 14-14 at the end of full time and then came the magic.

Tom Healy ran in for an amazing try in sudden-death extra-time as Bermuda left the crowd in silence at the Winston Rugby Pitch. The play started when Bermuda managed to get the ball away from The Bahamas. Thomas (Tank) Greenslade held the ball up perfectly, allowing the alert Healy to run around and secure the magical moment.

Bird was delighted when he spoke to The Royal Gazette yesterday afternoon, following the team's return home. He said that it was not an easy weekend for the players, but they showed great determination and skill to turn back their tough opponents in the final.

"Some game that was!" he said. "The crowd was very hostile and we knew we had to be on top of our game to win. It was an incredible and very emotional moment for us (when we won). We wanted it badly and the guys played their hearts out.

"In the sudden-death overtime we managed to out-scrimmage The Bahamas. On the final play we scrummed them off the ball, gained possession, took it wide, went one way, pulled it back the other way and set our flyer free. It was all about possession in those last few seconds of the game."

Stephen Thompson, coach of The Bahamas, praised the Bermudians. "It was a good game and hats off to Bermuda. ," he told the media there. "... they could not keep up with our speed. At the same time we also struggled with their size. The end result showed that strategies were well matched because at the end of regulation we had to go into overtime."

On the pitch, Bermuda's Darragh O'Donoghue made the first try around the second minute of the match. O'Donoghue's team-mate Chris Naylor's kick was good for the two-point conversion, giving them a 7-0 lead over The Bahamas.

In the second half, The Bahamas stole possession from Bermuda. Kevin Salabie made a break and fed the ball to Jeremico Cooper who made the try (7-5). Salabie returned to get the two-point conversion to tie the match at seven apiece.

On the next play, good passing by Bermuda led to another try and conversion putting them up, 14-7. With less than a minute left in the game, The Bahamas' Jamaal Curry passedto a speeding Andy Bodie who broke away to score a try. Salabie made another good kick to tie the match at 14-14, forcing sudden-death overtime.

After the tournament Healy and forward Kris Furbert were the two Bermudians named in the West Indies team for training with a view of playing in the United States Sevens in the new year.

"They both played really well throughout the weekend and deserve to be named in the team. This (selection) is great for them and great for Bermuda," Bird said.

On the flip side, Bird noted that overall he thought the team could have done better and should have pushed for a spot in the Cup rather than in the Plate. Bird noted however that the plan is to have the players better prepared when they attend next year's event.

Bermuda placed third out of four teams in the prelims and were then sent to the Plate. In moving to the Plate final they beat St. Vincent and the Grenadines 21-12 in the semi-final.