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Bermuda on target for title defence

Bermuda’s Bobby Hurdle holds onto the ball against Cayman Islands at the National Sports Centre last month. Bermuda take on Bahamas away at the weekend in a must-win Caribbean Championships match.

Bermuda’s national rugby team head to Bahamas today ahead of their ‘do-or-die’ North Zone group decider in the Caribbean Championships.Only victory will do for Bermuda who must defeat Bahamas this weekend to stand any chance of defending the Championship title they claimed last summer.Should they triumph, the Islanders would meet South Zone group winners Guyana at the National Sports Centre later this month in a repeat of last year’s final, which Bermuda won 11-0.Although they currently trail group leaders Cayman Islands by two points, Lawrence Bird’s side would leapfrog them providing they beat Bahamas at the Winton Rugby Centre on Saturday.“It’s a must-win game, we can’t even afford to draw even though we beat Cayman,” said Bird, whose side defeated the Caymanians 7-3 at home last month.“Cayman picked up a winning bonus point against Bahamas and a losing bonus point against us, so we have to win.“It’s going to be tough down there, there’s always a hostile crowd and a great atmosphere but if the boys remain focused and make the right decisions then I have every confidence we will be okay.”While Bird has warned his troops that Bahamas will be no pushovers, especially in their own backyard, he believes Bermuda are fitter, stronger and possess superior rugby know-how than their opponents.“They have a couple of dangerous players we identified when we watched a live stream of their game against Cayman Islands. But really, they didn’t have a lot of structure to their game and we’re looking to implement a few things to take advantage of that,” he said.“I’m certainly confident that if the guys play the way we’ve asked them to and try out some of the set moves we’ve asked them to then we’ll get through.”Bird has been forced to make a couple of changes to the squad that beat Cayman due to injuries to Andre Landy (knee) and Darren Richardson (ankle).Such is the strength in depth of Bermuda’s squad, with more 30 than players regularly attending training sessions, Bird had plenty of standby options, with Chris Naylor and Aldo Campbell replacing the injured duo.“We’ve been very lucky in that we’ve had guys who didn’t make the squad for the Cayman or the Bahamas matches and yet they’ve still trained with us and been ready to step in if needed. To be able to slot in two players at relatively short notice is a great position to be in.”Bird said his team would have gentle training sessions tomorrow and Friday in an effort to acclimatise to the searing heat in Bahamas.“The reason we go to Bahamas so early is because there’s such a heat difference for us because Bermuda’s weather has not been as hot for this time of year,” he said.“It’s in the high 80s down there already and it’s relatively humid so it’s going to be tough conditions for us.”The Caribbean Championships final will be played at the NSC on June 23, with the winners advancing to the 2015 World Cup qualifiers to be held in England.Bermuda, who are 49th in the International Rugby Board’s world rankings, are the top ranked side in the Caribbean.Bermuda squad: Paul Dobinson, Dustin Archibald, Jahan Cedenio, Thomas Greenslade, Mike Williams, David Rourke, Bobby Hurdle, Peter Dunkerley, Andrew Hook, Aldo Campbell, Tony Ward, Pete Dunlop, Henry Paddison, Tom Healy, Ian Henderson, Paull Davis, Lachie Armour, Tom Edwards, Jack Ellison, Neville Zuill, David Pringle, Chris Naylor.