Jamaica announced its return to test rugby in spectacular fashion with a 19-14 win over Bermuda at the Bramwell Clarke Sports Complex in Ewarton, St Catherine last Saturday (May 18) even through fielding a largely uncapped team.

This win in the Rugby Americas North Men’s Championship 2024 campaign came in style and comes after a five-year hiatus from the test arena due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The win is even sweeter considering it is Jamaica’s first-ever win over Bermuda.

The match was the Crocs’ first test match since they were beaten 42-14 by the same opponents in March 2019.

Jamaica had lost five and drawn one of their previous six encounters with Bermuda but tries from hooker Owen Linton and full-back Michael Facey put them into a commanding position with less than 10 minutes gone.

The Crocs maintained that 12-0 lead until half-time and extended it not long after the restart when Linton charged over for his second, Aaron Lowe knocking over his second conversion. With the win, Jamaica is set to move up one place to 65th, while Bermuda will drop one to 71st. 

The Crocs have to wait just over a month before their next game in North Zone 1A away to the Bahamas on 29 June. Meanwhile, Barbados fell agonisingly short of achieving a new record win in test rugby as they beat St Vincent and the Grenadines 80-0.

Kevin Carter had a conversion to take them past the current record of 81-0 against St Lucia but the chance went begging. Barbados will gain four places in the rankings and move up to 78th, with St Vincent and the Grenadines dropping by as many places to 84th.

Barbados’ next match in South Zone 1A is away to St. Lucia on June 8. The Rugby Americas North Men’s Championship 2024 is played under a round-robin format with the competition split into North and South zones with two divisions in each.