Bermuda's Under-11 rugby team reached the semi-finals of a leading junior tournament in southern England on Sunday.

The day after the youngsters had posted an impressive victory over a Guildford side, they put together a superb run in the Chobham Mini Rugby Festival which ended only at the hands of eventual winners Teddington.

The tour - the first by such a young rugby team from Bermuda in some 30 years - began superbly against Guildford.

Bermuda beat the Surrey side 20-5 in a 12-a-side, 20 minutes each way encounter, with full tackle, five-man scrums and four-man line-outs.

Adam Nicol lead the way with two tries while Graham Cooke and Micah Perrozi scored one try each. Bermuda dominated the first half and led 15-0.

Guildford came back back strongly in the second half with Bermuda having to hold back wave after wave of attack.

At the Chobham Mini Rugy Festival the following day, Bermuda Under-11s earned a creditable third place.

The festival involved some 700 children aged from seven to 12 and was held in mild, dry conditions.

All games were played with two seven-minute halfs and involved full tackle, 12-player rugby.

Bermuda finished second in pool A with a record of two wins and one loss, beating hosts Chobham 7-0 and Rosslyn Park 14-7 and falling to Sutton and Epsom 0-7.

The semi-final against Pool B winners and eventual champions Teddington was a close affair with Teddington going up with a try right on half-time.

Bermuda came back very strongly in the final minutes and were held up over the line on a couple of occasions in the dying seconds of match.

Head coach Andrew Price said: "The performance, commitment and passion displayed by the boys today has been outstanding.

"The Bermuda squad were complimented on how well such a new team played. The contact area was hotly contested but good discipline and an abundance of natural talent saw Bermuda produce great rugby.

"The opposition included experienced festival teams such as Chobham, Teddington, Sutton and Epsom and Rosslyn Park.

"To make it into the semi-final and be beaten by the eventual winners was beyond even the most optimistic expectations.

"All the hard work in training paid off and every boy played his part in what must be considered a very successful tour. Chobham were superb hosts and were delighted to be able to make their festival an 'international' competition".

Results

Pool matches: Bermuda 7 Chobham 0 (try Alex Price, conversion Andrew Forgesson); Bermuda 0 Sutton and Epsom 7; Bermuda 14 Rosslyn Park 7 (try Micah Perrozi, Graham Cooke; two conversions Andrew Forgesson). Semi-final: Teddington 7 Bermuda 0.