Caribbean Championships, beating hosts the Cayman Islands' first XV 24-3 in last night's final.

Newspapers on Grand Cayman, who fielded a first and second XV in the tournament, now divided into northern and southern sections, had predicted that the home side would romp to victory.

But Bermuda, led outstandingly by Bobby Hurdle, upset the forecasts with a strong first half performance which put the game out of reach of the Caymans.

"All the hype in the press here had been about how the Caymans were going to walk it,'' said manager Patrick McHugh from the team's hotel last night.

"They must have been very disappointed.'' Freedom Burrows opened the scoring with a try on his debut in international rugby after 12 minutes, powering over after sustained pressure from Bermuda's forwards. Phil Heaney converted the score and made it 10-0 after 22 minutes from a penalty after the Caymans had deliberately thrown the ball into touch.

Three minutes later Shane Gill ran in a try, again after good work from the forwards, and Heaney was on the mark to make it 17-0.

Bermuda conceded a penalty themselves when they were caught offside, to give the home side a measure of hope at 17-3 by the interval.

The visitors then had to absorb a huge amount of pressure after the break, but a minute from time Colin Targett went over in the corner and Heaney converted to clinch the championship.

McHugh said the standard in the northern section had been quite high, despite the absence of previous opponents such as Trinidad and Jamaica, now in the southern area.

"The Caymans were strong enough to field two teams,'' he said. "We played a kind of league system with it seeded in a way that we would meet their first XV in the final.'' Bermuda had reached the final following a second win in the championships on Monday when they outclassed Florida 46-3.

Bermuda fired on all cylinders, dominating Florida in all facets of the game, particularly in the first half. Within the first five minutes the score was level with an exchange of penalties, Phil Heaney notching the Island's first three points.

Bermuda's forwards began to take charge and they scored two tries in five minutes -- a pushover converted by Heaney and Bobby Hurdle powering over in the corner.

Bermuda increased their lead with further tries from Josh McGovern and Heath Robinson -- one of which was converted by Heaney -- before a fine solo effort by Jon Cassidy made it 34-3 at the break.

Sean Field-Lament and Heaney grabbed further scores after the interval. McHugh said: "It was a rough call having to play back-to-back games. But we did the business.''