Tournament favourites Bermuda made a flying start to the inaugural West Indies Rugby Union Seven-A-Side tournament on Saturday when they won all of their matches to top their pool.

On a scorching, windy day at the Mona Bowl, the Bermudians defeated newcomers British Virgin Islands 22-12 in their first encounter, followed by a 24-19 victory over Guyana and a hard-fought 24-17 win over Jamaica `B' who replaced Venezuela in the tournament.

Bermuda finished at the head of Pool B with nine points, over Guyana (six), British Virgin Islands (three) and Jamaica B (0). Three points were awarded for a win and one point for a draw.

Yesterday -- the final day -- Bermuda were scheduled to clash with Pool C winners Trinidad (seven points) and hosts Jamaica.

Against British Virgin Islands (BVI), winger Simon Hirtenstein was the key to the Bermudians 22-12 win, after scoring two tries -- one in either half.

Fellow winger Heath (Butch) Robinson also landed a try to back Hirtenstein's effort.

However, the Bermudians did not play to form in the first half. Newcomers BVI, showing good composure in their passes and runs to the line eked out a 12-10 half-time lead.

But they never scored a point in the second half as the powerful-running Bermudians took total control as fly half Jon Cassidy topped them off with a try and one conversion in the last stanza.

In their game against Guyana, Bermuda again started on a low note as the South Americans, with a good display of speed and control, romped to a commanding 19-5 lead.

But it seemed as if the Bermudians purposely dictated the play of their opponents in the first half, as in the second they came out like giants, stomping their dominance in every aspect of play to win 24-19.

Danny McGavern (two), Hirtenstein (one) and captain Derek (Bobby) Hurdle (one) scored the tries for Bermuda, in addition to two conversions from Nathan Brown.

The Bermudians performed disappointedly against Jamaica's second-string team, who ended the first day without a win.

McGavern and Hurdle, with one try each, scored the only points in the first half.

Bermuda rounded up their attacks on the wings and concreted their defence to come out 24-17 winners, with Brown getting two tries and kicking two conversions.

Despite the hard-fought matches, captain Hurdle was pleased with the performance. He said: "I am satisfied with the outcome. We won all three games -- this is what we came out to do.

"But we haven't played a full game yet, we put ourselves behind in the first half and had to come back in the second.'' He said Jamaica B, unexpectedly gave them the most challenging performance so far.

"Jamaica ended up being our toughest opponents, we thought it would have been Guyana, but Jamaica really gave us a run in the last couple of minutes.''