When Bermuda's national squad leaves for Trinidad and the Caribbean tournament this weekend there will be a few notable absentees from the team that was selected in late October.

Gone are Gareth Davies of Police and Billy McNiven and Andrew Correia of Teachers.

Davies suffered a groin injury during Bermuda's last game in the World Rugby Classic against Australia while Correia was knocked out of an Amstel League game on Sunday with a second degree tear of his right calf.

The injuries to both players have created significant holes in the Bermuda line-up -- particularly at scrum half, once considered as the team's strong suit.

McNiven became the latest casualty to exit when he was caught hitting a Renegade in frustration seconds after team-mate Heath (Butch) Robinson was kicked in the head by Andy Cook during Teachers game on Sunday against Renegades.

McNiven received the heave-ho by the Bermuda Rugby Football Union until January 17 last night, forcing him to cancel his Trinidad plans.

National team coach Keiron Peacock moved swiftly to replace Davies, naming Teachers scrum half Michael Montgomery to fill the void and Danny Soares of Mariners will substitute for Correia.

Peacock was unable to convince Dave Taylor of Renegades, who was saddled with business committments, to make the trip.

Named as fill-in for McNiven will be Grant Tompkins of Police.

The week-long tournament begins on Sunday. The team leaves for Trinidad on Saturday.

Bermuda's first game takes place on Monday against Trinidad `B' and their second match is on Wednesday against Guyana.

Despite the last-minute moves, Peacock is extremely confident with the squad he is bringing to the tournament.

"I'm confident in that we've got as good as squad as we can possibly have,'' said Peacock. "Obviously we've lost some very good players. The big factor is that we don't really know much about our opponents.'' The team has been working out since July so fitness will not be a problem and the line-up will be further enhanced by the presence of the biggest scoring threats the Island has to offer.

Seven of this season's top 10 scorers in the Amstel League are going, spearheaded by Andre Simons of Teachers who leads the circuit with five tries and 44 points.

Added to the high-octane scoring mixture is Robinson and Alvin Harvey, also of Teachers, and Danny Cozens of Police who each have four tries and 20 points on the year.

At least 11 of the players selected have accounted for almost two-thirds of league scoring since the season began in early October.

In the line-up will be Harvey (also the team's captain), Richard Raistrick, Montgomery, Robinson, David Cook, Ashley Redmond, Terry Walsh, Patrick Cooper, Scott Correia and Simons from Teachers; Sean Kelly, Danny Forsythe, Tom Dixon and Phil Heaney from Renegades; Neil Alexander, Jonah Jones, Dave Conway, Keith Beattie and Soares from Mariners and Sean Field, Tompkins and Danny Cozens from Police.

OPEN ARMS -- League leading scorer Andre Simons gets his chance to stomp on Caribbean opponents when Trinidad tournament starts next week.