Bermuda lost two pool matches on the opening day of the Rugby Americas North Men's Under-19 tournament in Querétaro, Mexico, on Wednesday.

Chris Naylor and Alex Cupidore’s side were defeated 10-3 by the host nation before going down 22-0 to Cayman Islands.

Bermuda put up a strong fight against Mexico after they went into the break 10-0 down. Brandon Sangster, the Bermuda captain, booted a penalty to reduce the deficit but the team were unable to pick up any more points.

“In the first game against Mexico, we were just a bit slow to start,” Naylor told The Royal Gazette.

“We didn't play much rugby in the first 15 minutes. After that, we did get into the game and I felt that we were the better team in the second half, but we just couldn’t get over the try line.

“There were positives from that game. I thought that Ramsey Soutter had a good game at centre on debut and our wingers did a pretty good job.”

In Bermuda’s second match of the tournament, they made a strong start, with their defence only breached right at the end of the first half when Cayman scored a converted try. They went on to score three more in the second half.

“Our boys were so disappointed with the way they played against Cayman,’’ Naylor said.

“We were second best by quite a long way. Credit to Cayman, they took the game to us and were certainly the better team on the day.

“But we let ourselves down a bit. Our set pieces, especially our lineouts, were poor and there is a bit of frustration among the lads because they know that they didn’t play quite as well as they can do.”

Bermuda do not have much time to polish up as they face Trinidad and Tobago as well as Jamaica on Thursday. Those two matches will determine the position they will play for on Saturday, the last day of the tournament.

“It’s going to be tough playing against Trinidad and Jamaica,” Naylor added.

“Both had tough games against the United States. Although they lost heavily, they showed a lot of physicality, they've got some big boys and good athletes.

“We need to pick up the tempo a little bit and show a bit more confidence in the rugby players that we have.”