Being relegated is never good, but Roedolf van der Westhuizen, the Bermuda rugby coach, believes it might not be the worst thing to have happened to his team.

Bermuda dropped into the bottom tier of the North America and Caribbean Rugby Association Championship last year after they lost to Cayman Islands and USA South, and then had to forfeit a promotion/relegation play-off game against Mexico.

Next month they will begin the process of climbing back up into the top tier with games against Turks and Caicos, and Bahamas, and while that is the immediate focus for the team, Van der Westhuizen is looking far beyond that.

“I think in hindsight the relegation will probably suit us because it gives us an opportunity to hone our skills against a couple of like-for-like teams, and get some momentum building, leading up to the World Cup qualifying season [in 2016],” Van der Westhuizen said.

“In an ideal world what we would want to see happen is that we win our group this year, and go and win the promotion and relegation game, and then we are on an upward track, and hopefully we can compete with the stronger teams, make it to the Caribbean final, and progress from there.

“I know that’s probably very ambitious, to try and qualify for the World Cup from the bottom group of the Caribbean championship, but it’s not undoable.”

The first task though will be to beat Turks and Caicos, and Bahamas, and Bermuda will begin training in the next week or so in preparation for those games against teams Van der Westhuizen admits that he knows little about.

“I think we should win those two games, but I’ve absolutely no idea what they look like, I’ve never seen them play myself,” van der Westhuizen said. “Honestly I don’t have any point of reference to say ‘yes we can beat them, or no we can’t’.”

Not that he is overly concerned by that, the Bermuda coach is more focused on making his side strong enough for the games that lie beyond.

Victory in March is likely to bring a promotion/relegation play-off game against Mexico or Cayman Islands, two teams Bermuda lost to last year.

“My focus this year would not be so much as to how to play these individual games, but to focus more on our strengths and making sure we are as good as we can be, so that the other teams have to try and beat us, rather than the other way around,” Van der Westhuizen said.

The one area where Bermuda may have problems is the make-up of the squad, with the games falling at a busy time of year work wise for some of the players.

Even the loss of the game against Jamaica, who have withdrawn from the tournament for financial reasons, does not guarantee a full strength side will be available.

“It [availability] just depends,” said the South African, “everyone has a day job.

“I’m always a believer that the more games you play the better it makes you as a team, and I was looking forward to three Test matches.

“Losing one game isn’t ideal, but what can you do about it?”

Now that he’s qualified to play for Bermuda through residency Van der Westhuizen might even find himself pulling on a Bermuda shirt this year, but he will not be the person who makes that call.

“Obviously I would love the opportunity to play for Bermuda,” he said. “I have a selection committee, so it’s not just my call if I play or not, and I don’t want to make that call, to be honest.

“That’s not my main focus, my main focus is definitely the coaching and I wouldn’t allow the playing or the opportunity to play, to get in the way of that.”