The four Bermuda rugby players who competed for West Indies at the recent Tropical 7s tournament are thrilled at the opportunities the team provides for the region’s smaller nations.

Corrie Cross and Najee Pitt-Clarke played for West Indies women’s team, who finished runners-up, with Hadleigh Tucker and Jahniko Francis finishing fourth in the group stages for the men’s squad.

For Cross, the chance to combine her talents with other Caribbean players on an international stage was one that she could not let pass.

“It was a good outcome considering this was a brand-new team especially on the women’s side,” she said.

“This was the first time the women had come together under West Indies banner and I was impressed with how we performed. There were girls from Trinidad & Tobago, St Lucia, Jamaica, Bermuda and Guyana and we all had a common goal of wanting to be able to represent the Caribbean well.

“We feel that rugby in general has not seen the value that the Caribbean has to offer yet and we wanted to be the team to bring attention to the talent in the region.”

Cross rarely gets the chance to play contact rugby with the women’s national team playing only a limited number of fixtures and the standards on display in Tampa, Florida, forced her to raise her game.

“The tournament is like nothing I’ve experienced before,” she said.

“Bermuda’s national team is the only contact rugby team on the island for women so there is no regular league. Going to that tournament automatically created new playing experiences that I have never had.

“Coming from Bermuda, where we only ever go away maximum twice a year to compete, to go there and see all this rugby happening live and feeding off that energy for two days is really special.”

Finishing runners-up helped to highlight the talent in the Caribbean region and Cross hopes the team will go on to bigger and better things.

“A lot of it was down to heart,” Cross said. “The Caribbean is filled with passionate people and we wanted it really badly.

“We wanted to show that this was a possibility and that there is potential and growth here. When we were talking about goals going into the event, one goal we established was that we wanted to show up and winning was second.

“But to finish second by a very small margin, and we were not far off from winning that last game, far exceeded the expectations anybody had for us and we know that we can use this as a starting point to grow this platform, play some tournaments and see how far we can take West Indies.”

Pitt-Clarke returned to England, where she is studying at Reading University, having fought through fatigue just to play in the event.

“The trip was worth the jet-lag,” she said.

“I had no idea who I was getting to play with or have the opportunity to get to know up close and personal. It was definitely worth going the distance and dealing with the temperature adjustment. I’ve never experienced a situation where you have to perform under a five-hour time difference and after a nine-hour flight to get there. It was also one of the hottest days they’ve had.

Pitt-Clarke scored one try in the tournament but hoped to get more time on the pitch.

“I’m happy that I managed to put one down for Bermuda,” she said.

“I didn’t get as much game time as I expected. Some of the players had played for a team called Caribbean Queens and the coaches were more comfortable keeping them together, but with the time that I did get I definitely showed my worth.”

Tucker featured for the men’s team and found the experience culturally fulfilling. He hopes that West Indies squad will provide increased opportunities for players in the region.

“It was a fantastic experience,” he said. “Culturally, bringing everybody together was really awesome, but in terms of the game these tournaments can benefit our individual unions and push players, bringing what we’ve learnt on this tour back.

“If I get invited back, I’d love to play again and I think it’s a great opportunity because we have a narrow pipeline through RAN [Rugby Americas North].

“We have Canada and the US competing with us when they drop off the international circuit and with the likes of Jamaica and Trinidad having very good squads, it can be hard for good players from smaller nations to get that visibility.

“It’s awesome to represent Bermuda and for myself and Jahniko to show what we have to offer and that we have really good players and a good system, getting more visibility through this platform. There is now an opportunity through West Indies to go and play and it could lead to us going to more prestigious competitions. It’s a great opportunity.”