Rugby West Indies Men’s Sevens Head Coach, Joe Whipple, has announced the squads selected to compete in the Trinidad Tobago Enthusiasts International 7's Dec 6/7, 2008.

The tournament will be proceeded by 3 day mini camp. A Rugby West Indies Team will also be participating in the XX Punta del Este International Seven–a-side Rugby Tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay form 3rd and 4th January, 2009. The purpose of the tournaments are to prepare players for the Hong Kong leg of the IRB Sevens World Series, March 27/28/29, 2009.

Whipple will use 17 players in the two tournaments plus 5 other non-traveling players in the final selection of the 12 players for Hong Kong.

The players recently competed for their respective countries in the NAWIRA Rugby World Cup Sevens Qualifyer in the Bahamas in October 25th-26th, 2008, which served as the regional qualifier for the Sevens Rugby World Cup in Dubai 2009. This tournament provided the base for the players selected for these tournaments.

“This is the strongest group of players we have had to date,” Whipple noted . "We are impressed with their level of commitment to playing at the next level. Our Trinidad squad is made up of 6 capped players and 5 uncapped 18 to 20 year old players. We normally play 8 games in this tournament. This allows all the players the opportunity to get plenty of game time.
Whipple said that, “since this is the first assembly of many of the players, every game is competitive for us. Our goal is to improve our performance in each game we play. Our Punta del Este squad has 9 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."

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