WHILE many of Bermuda's sports stars let their hair down a little bit over the festive period, rugby player Tom Healy will be hitting the track rather than the bottle as he prepares for a make or break Sevens warm-up tournament in Uruguay.

The Renegades scrum-half caught the eye of Rugby West Indies Men's Sevens Head Coach Joe Whipple while playing for Bermuda in the recent in the NAWIRA Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifier in the Bahamas in October.

Healy hopes the South American tournament will convince Whipple to pick him for the Hong Kong leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in March.

Healy, who flies out on December 30 to meet teammates in Miami before heading to Uruguay, said: "Punta del Este sounds like a great place to go – a party town and the rugby down there is a pretty high standard so I am looking forward to it."

But Healy won't be partying much – he has stayed largely teetotal since the Bahamas tournament and will remain on the wagon through most of the festive period.

"I train essentially twice a day – a gym session in the morning and a track or rugby session in the evening."

Two years ago Healy played the Sevens Series for the West Indies in San Diego.

"It was pretty tough – we were in Fiji's pool, they were the best in the world at that stage. We also played Argentina and Scotland."

That baptism of fire on the first day was followed by further tough tests against the US and Tonga.

Healy wasn't able to get involved last year, partly because of work commitments.

"This year I am giving it a bash and am training pretty hard." And despite his prior experience he isn't taking anything for granted.

"The standard in the Caribbean is improving every year," he said adding that half the West Indies squad is from Guyana, which have the best Rugby Sevens team in the region, while Trinidad who are the XVs Caribbean Champions are also strongly represented.

"I am up against it but I have made the team before so I know it is possible."

The 30-year-old said age isn't on his side against other squad members who are in their late teens or early 20s.

"I am probably being looked at more for experience." The scrum-half thinks he will also be used as an out-half if he makes the cut.

Despite his success in Sevens the Irishman says he only started playing it when he moved to Bermuda five years ago.

"I much prefer it to XVs – I am a small guy and my game is all based around speed. Sevens has so much more space so I have more opportunity to do what I am good at. In XVs I am closed down very quickly by bigger slower players."

Those who impress most will be selected for the West Indies squad in February with a training camp planned for March in Trinidad, followed by training against the Canadian national team before flying to Hong Kong.

Healy is disappointed not to have gone further with Bermuda who he said had been trained hard by Lawrence Bird over the summer.

"The problem with Bermuda is we are so much slower than the Caribbean sides so we have to structure our game accordingly. Given that we spend so much time with these guys on and off the park there is obviously a much stronger bond with them. I am particularly disappointed we didn't come away with the trophy in the Caribbean, the West Indies is very much a secondary thing.

"But now that is all done it is nice I still have something to work for."

Healy said his employer Butterfield Bank had been very understanding about the travel time involved in the sport and he hopes it will continue that way if he does get the nod for the Far East trip.

Another part of the WI squad played in the Trinidad Tobago Enthusiasts International earlier this month while the other half will go with Healy to the XX Punta del Este International Seven-Aside Rugby Tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay on January 3 and 4. Whipple will then make in the final selection of the 12 players for Hong Kong.

Whipple said earlier this month: "This is the strongest group of players we have had to date. Our Punta del Este squad has nine capped players.

"This tournament will provide a good opportunity to compare the progress of the veteran players. We are welcoming back a couple of players who weren't available to us last year. I expect them to be hungry to show that they deserve to be in the Hong Kong squad."

The Punta del Este Sevens will feature the top club sides from Uruguay and Argentina and national sides such as world cup qualifiers Uruguay, Samoa, Tonga, and Chile, and select sides such as Buenos Aires Provinces and Serevi's Selects.