Bermuda’s under-15 and under-18 squads will be travelling to Toronto today to compete against Trinity College School and the Toronto Saracens.

The team and coaches from Trinity College School are no strangers to Bermuda. The two sides have been competing against each other for several years, with the Bermuda team recoding a double victory over the visiting Trinity students in the past two matches. Bermuda take the teams on Friday.

There is a strong link between Bermuda and Trinity College School, with the teams competing annually for the Devrae Noel-Simons Cup, in honour of one of the Bermuda coaches who died five years ago.

“Devrae was such an important person for Bermuda Youth Rugby,” said Gareth Nokes, head coach of the under-16 team,

“He made a huge difference to Bermuda’s youth both and on and off the pitch. To be able to remember him in this way is very special to us.”

The Bermuda teams will face a second round of games on Saturday when they face the Toronto Saracens. The Saracens are a local amateur rugby club.

Dan Roberts, a Bermuda coach, said: “I am delighted that 36 high school rugby players will have the opportunity to test themselves against two of the best teams in Canada.

“These tours are crucial to their development and will serve as a great warm up for the Caribbean Championships in July.”

Patrick Calow, a Bermuda coach and Beyond Rugby youth development officer, said: “Our ability to do this is a testament to the fantastic support that our sponsors have given to Bermuda Rugby and Beyond Rugby in recent years.

“This has allowed us to create a sustainable structure with a deep playing pool of well over 250 children playing rugby regularly.

“We are particularly grateful to the support and generosity of Aspen Bermuda, without whom, many of our players would not have the opportunity to participate in overseas develop games such as these.

The tour is being considered a warm up to the teams participating in the Rugby Americas North Under-19 Superweek, which will be held in Barbados this July.

SQUAD

Dariyon Davis (Berkeley), Chaziah Brown (Bermuda Institute), Kian Thompson (Cedarbridge), Sylas Young (Bermuda Institute), Thomas Westhead (Renegades RFC), Isaiah Rickards (Mariners RFC), Zyun Smith (Cedarbridge), Miguel Postlethwaite (Cedarbridge), Jakee Simons (Berkeley), Tyler Kendall (Teachers RFC), Nathaniel Simmons (Police RFC), Matthew Daniels (Warwick Academy), Conor Somerville (Saltus), D’zuri Gill (Berkeley), Alex Whalley (Mount Saint Agnes), Caleb Roberts (Mariners RFC), Isaiah Cabral (Berkeley), John Froud (Saltus), Khabir Dill (Campbell College, UK), Nicholas Froud (Saltus), Jake Dunleavy (Saltus), Faizon Augustus (Cedarbridge), Peter Komposch (Saltus), Dakarai Grant (Cedarbridge), Thibaut Stefani (Somersfield), Devin Augustus, (Cedarbridge), Jacques Boonstra (Saltus), Jayvyn Iris (Bermuda Institute), Shawn Bremar (Cedarbrdige), William Nokes (Oundle, UK), Ashton Butterfield (Warwick Academy), Adrian McPhee (Warwick Academy), Jansen Smith (Cedarbridge), Devon Soto (Sandys), Deontae Armstrong (Cedarbridge), Malachi Paynter (Sandys)