@$:BYLINE-FRANK:By KYLEHUNTERSports EditorBODY-FRANK:BERMUDA'S national rugby team will have their work cut out for them when they travel to the Bahamas this weekend for the qualifying tournament for the Rugby Sevens World Cup to be staged next year in Dubai.BODY-FRANK-2:And for the first time ever Bermuda will also be sending the national women's team to the Bahamas for the inaugural Rugby Sevens World Cup women's qualifying tournament. Eleven teams will be competing for the two qualifying places in the men's tournament and Bermuda are up against top seeds the United States in their Pool A. Also in that pool will be Mexico whose game has come along in recent years.The second strongest side in the Bahamas will be Canada but Bermuda coach Lawrence Bird also warned of other teams who are expected to make an impact."If you are looking at the world rankings then you would expect the USand Canada to go through (to the finals in Dubai) but you never know. Sevens is a very different game (compared to XVs)."But I expect the US to be strong. They play the full international sevens circuit."Of Mexico, Bird said:"Mexico have been in the CaribbeanChampionships for the last two years and also played the international sevens tournament in SanDiego last year where all the big teams play."While acknowledging that Mexico are still developing the game, Bird said: "They will be hard to predict. They are relatively inexperienced but they have been playing a lot in a short time ¿ they are a big side and I expect they will be physical. But the strongest teams will be the US and Canada but you also have to watch out for Guyana who are usually pretty good as well as Trinidad and Jamaica."Bird said he believed Bermuda, who will be led by captain Bobby Hurdle, had a strong squad this year. "We have been training pretty hard week after week. There has been a tremendous turn-out during the training sessions ¿ up to 20 guys have been coming to each session so it has been very tough making the final selection. The guys have all been working very hard."While Bermuda have never been to the World Cup finals, Bird said:"You never know. It would be great to make Dubai for the final ¿ it would be superb although it is a tall order but we are as prepared as we can be."The coach said he mainly looked for speed and the ball handling abilities of the players. "You need to have the quicker boys but you also have to pick some of the big guys because you still need to scrummage although line-outs are not as frequent. Sevens is an open game which is why it is so short ¿ it is seven minutes each way which will be exhausting so you have to be fit ¿ and we have done a lot of fitness training."The 11 teams are divided up into three groups ¿ Bermuda's group being the only one with three teams. The top two in each group go through to the next round."The first day we play both the USand Mexico in our group. That will be a fairly easy day but the next day we will be expected to play four games and that is where the fitness comes in," said Bird adding that the national team played a local sevens tournament last weekend to get ready. "I am glad it was hot last Saturday because it is going to be hot down there," he said.As for the women Bird said:"It is fantastic that they are going for the first time ¿ it will be a huge event for them."While Billy McNiven is the main coach for the women, a number of senior players have also given a helping hand. "Bobby (Hurdle) has been coaching them as well as Tom Healy," he said.Bermuda's women are in Pool C with Jamaica and Guyana.The competition will follow the same format as the men's event on day two, although the three sides who fail to progress to the Cup pools will play each other twice in the round robin Plate.In both the men's and women's competitions the battle to qualify for the RWC Sevens 2009 in Dubai next March will be just as fiercely contested as the one to be crowned champions of the Caribbean.Bermuda's main opponents in their men's group, the US, recently had their squad of 23 players attend a 10-day training camp prior to this weekend's tournament.Three notable inclusions were powerful forward Todd Clever and foreign-based stars Takudzwa Ngwenya of Biarritz and Chris Wyles of Saracens. Many other players in the list also have several IRB Sevens World Series events under their belts.The squad is also among the youngest UScoach Al Caravelli has ever assembled ¿ 10 players are 20 or below."Even though we are seeded first in the tournament we will not take any competitor lightly," Caravelli said. "As I've said before, in the sevens game anyone can beat anyone on any given day. We open the tournament against Mexico and then face Bermuda. Mexico has played a series of games in Dallas recently so they will be very prepared. We just have to take one game at a time."The US and Canada are the only North America sides to have graced the Rugby World Cup Sevens stage.The Canadians have played in all of the four previous RWC Sevens, the US missing the 2001 event when their neighbours reached the Melrose Cup quarter finals. It is the US, though, who have claimed silverware by winning the Bowl title in 1997.