-- just days after taking the USA to the wire in the Plate Final at the World Rugby Classic.

Peter Shillingford confirmed yesterday the team will not be attending next week's Caribbean Championships to defend their title, leaving them with the prospect of just friendlies to look forward to in the lead up to next year's tournament. A combination of injuries to key players, unavailability of others and financial concerns are behind the decision.

"We've had so much on over the last 12-14 months. People can't get time off work and we've got quite a few injuries,'' Shillingford told The Royal Gazette . "It's a shame because we are champions, but in some respects it's a good job that we're not going down because we may not have put on a good showing.

"We would have had to take younger players but we haven't really got the cover at half-back and in the front row.'' Captain Alvin Harvey added: "Quite a few of our top players are injured and a lot exhausted their time off during the World Cup campaign.

"And then there's the cost. We've been trying to raise as much money as possible by talking to potential sponsors but nothing has come through.

"Without that, it would have been a financial drain on the players who would have had to find about $1,000 from their own pockets.

"It's disappointing we're not going. But we didn't want to send just anyone down. We could only come up with about 18 players and that's not really enough in a week of three tough games.

"I'm sure we could have made a good account of ourselves, but while we've been getting better over recent years so have the other Caribbean teams.

"You've also got to remember that our pool of players is a lot less than theirs. Trinidad have got 600 players to choose from -- we've got 120. When you whittle that down to the 30 who are keen enough and good enough to represent their country and then you lose six or seven of those through injury and more through work commitments ...'' Shillingford said that officials of the Bermuda Rugby Football Union would meet in the new year to try to plan a number of friendlies, while Harvey revealed an end-of-season tour to Europe or Canada was on the agenda.

"We've definitely got to keep the profile of rugby and the level of competition high,'' said Harvey, "especially for the youngsters coming through.'' In a separate development, Harvey yesterday confirmed his intention to stand down as captain at the end of the season, although he will remain available to play for the Island.

"Right now I'm feeling pretty good,'' he said "and all the body parts seem all right. But this will be my last season as captain. I've been in the role for five years and had a good tenure but I think it's time for someone else to take the reins.''