Bermuda under-12s recently returned from a tour of Ireland where they came up against some of the best youth sides the country has to offer.The Island took a senior and junior team on the trip, and enjoyed some mixed results against their Irish counterparts.Against Willow Park, who count Brian O’Driscoll among their former alumni and who went undefeated this season, Bermuda’s senior team lost 7-1, while the juniors lost 6-0. Despite the scorelines, the coaches were thoroughly impressed by the boys’ performances against a side that won a tournament in Northern Ireland recently without conceding a try.After Willow Park, came a round robin tournament against Cill Dara RFU and Naas RFU.In a series of hard-fought games, the senior team beat local champions Naas 3-2, with the Bermuda rucking ultimately making the difference in that encounter. They then saw off hosts Cill Dara 2-1, with some desperate defence in a tense final ten minutes.The juniors also battled hard, but ultimately lost both their matches, including a 5-4 heartbreaker against Cill Dara when they had been 4-1 up.Still, the Bermuda contingent made enough of an impression that they were praised by the Cill Dara coach for the quality of their rugby.The tour finished with a series of matches against Gorey RFC, with the senior side losing a physical contest 4-3, and the juniors losing one game 5-3, and winning one 2-0.Bermuda’s coaches even got in on the act towards the end, beating their Gorey counterparts 5-3 in a game of touch rugby.