Beautiful sunshine, great support and an island rivalry on show—what a setting for today’s rugby! BVI took the honours in the opening encounter, scoring six tries against a USVI Privateers side that battled hard throughout.

Jonathon Mcauley got BVI off to a flying start with a try in the opening minute, Sam Thompson adding the conversion. Then came the Mark Wells show: tries in the fourth and sixth minutes helped push BVI into a 19–0 lead.

But the Privateers were not backing down. USVI put in some cracking tackles and had their own near misses, giving their supporters plenty to get behind. The scoreboard tells only part of the story—there was no shortage of determination from the hosts.

Wells crossed again in the 12th and 15th minutes, taking his personal tally to four tries. Roan Thornton added BVI’s sixth in the 19th minute, before Thompson’s fifth successful conversion completed the scoring at 40–0.

A commanding opening result for BVI, a battling effort from USVI, and terrific support helping make this a proper occasion for Virgin Islands rugby.

One game down, one to go—stay with us for round two!