The decision forced Bermuda to make some last-minute roster changes, moving Neil Alexander from his own prop position to Forsythe's, while Billy McNiven has been elevated from the reserves to play in Alexander's spot.

Rob Cortez, meantime, has been added to the reserve squad.

The decision caught team officials off guard since Forsythe, who was actually doubtful because of the injury, was given clearance to play on Wednesday based on a series of medical tests following practice.

"Danny is the cornerstone of the pack,'' said Bermuda coach Keiron Peacock yesterday. "When you take that person out, then it makes a big difference to us overall.'' Said Forsythe: "I'm very frustrated, I really wanted to play but I just would not have been able to run. It's unfortunate, but I've been very lucky and have played a lot of rugby this year. I'm sure Neil and Billy will do a good job.'' The United States, waiting to finalise their own roster, are making last-minute changes of their own.

Reserve scrum half Ramon Samaniego tore off his left kneecap during practice on Wednesday afternoon and left the Island yesterday for Phoenix where he will undergo surgery today.

"It's a bad injury,'' said Dr. Jim St. Ville, the Eagles physician yesterday at the team's Elbow Beach Hotel headquarters. "Depending on how badly it's torn will dictate whether he ever plays again.'' The mishap occured while US players were participating in running drills and hitting training bags. Samaniego accidently locked his foot into the ground, forcing the patella tendon to snap.

He is being replaced on the roster by Mark Pidcock, who arrived in Bermuda yesterday. The Eagles, who have been involved in two-a-day workouts since Monday did not train yesterday morning.

The Bermuda squad will begin final preparations for tomorrow's game (3 p.m. at National Sports Club) when they check into the Belmont Hotel tonight. With the exception of Forsythe, the team is similar to the one which won the Carribean championships in November and defeated Queen's University last month.

"Our mood? I'd say it's one of growing confidence,'' said Peacock, while taking a break from teaching yesterday. "We've watched a lot of tapes on the Eagles and we think we know what their strengths and weaknesses are. We've spoken to people who have worked out with them this week and overall we're just feeling more positive.'' Peacock expects the Eagles to be fairly physical during the early portion of the clash, where the winner will advance to a home-and-away qualifying round against Argentina prior to November. The winner of those games will play in next year's World Cup in South Africa.

"We expect them to use the battering-ram approach,'' he said. "We expect them to keep everything fairly tight and to test us with some high balls to see how we deal with it. They know they're bigger than us, but our number one priority is to put them on the ground. If they're on the ground they have to release the ball.

"We've got enough scoring punch, but our problem is geting the ball. If we get the ball we think we can run them a bit. I think we can take them on.'' Bermuda, training for the game since last summer, will have the advantage of being together longer than the Eagles. The local squad, with an average age of 29, are also considered to have a slight edge in experience since the youthful Americans have an average age of 27.

But the Eagles do have an advantage in height and weight and at least five of their expected starters -- prop Chris Lippert, lock Kevin Swords, fly half Chris O'Brien, centre Mark Williams and wing Gary Hein -- all having experience in World Cup play.

"We're not underestimating them in any shape or form,'' said Peacock, 36, a teacher at Saltus Grammar School. "But we're also being realistic. We think we've come a long way over this last nine months. We think we've closed the gap. We're now in striking distance.'' Several local representatives, including vice-captain Sean Field and guest coach Alan Edmunds, have been watching the Eagles practice this week and there were also a few Eagles at Wednesday's Bermuda practice.

Each team has been working extremely hard on keeping their final strategies a secret.

"We know more about them than they know about us,'' said Peacock. "We know who is on their squad and we've got quite a lot of video material. We've identified who's probably going to play against us.

"They've only seen us in one session, but we didn't do anything for them.'' Last night the Bermuda Rugby Football Union held a reception for the Eagles and treated them to dinner. That should be as far as the niceties go, at least until after Saturday's game.

"This is the biggest game for everybody that's involved on the Bermuda side, no doubt about that,'' said Peacock. "It's a great honour, a great privilege.

I'm sure on Saturday I'll be extremely nervous, just like everybody else.

Above all, Bermuda hope to avoid getting behind early in the game. The Eagles, despite losing to Australia in their last game, have demonstrated they are capable of being explosive offensively.

"We don't anticipate that is going to happen,'' said Peacock, of trailing behind early. "We're not looking at that. If it does happen, there's no way that we're going to be quitters. The occasion just means too much to us.

"We're confident we're going to win,'' he added. "We are not going in their as cannon fodder.'' Bermuda's squad for tomorrow: Billy McNiven, David Cooke, Neil Alexander, Danny Cozens, Ashley Redmond, Patrick Cooper, Sean Field (vice captain), Richard Raistrick, Andrew Correia, Phil Heaney, Alvin Harvey (captain), Scott Correia, Keith Beattie, Heath (Butch) Robinson, Michael Montgomery. Reserves: Ali Nicholl, Gareth Davies, Declan O'Laughlin, Rob Cortez, Terry Walsh, Andre Simons.

DANNY FORSYTHE -- Prop `really wanted to play.' RAMON SAMANIEGO -- Busted kneecap in practice.

KEIRON PEACOCK -- Feeling more confident.