The Brunei national rugby will have another chance to prove themselves in the inaugural Sabah Governors Cup Invitational Rugby 15s from August 23-25.
The squad will be facing tough competition despite the tournament being smaller than their recent Asian 5 Nations (A5N) Division 5 campaign in Cambodia.
Brunei Rugby Football Union Director of International Relations Ainol Razman Mohd Ghazaly who is familiar with the national team knows that this will be a difficult test for the players.
"The tournament in Kota Kinabalu will be harder compared to the one in Cambodia because Sabah and Sarawak will be fielding professional Pacific Islanders," said Ainol.
"What is lacking among our players is the game experience on the international level and getting the chance to play matches like this is a learning curve towards that.
"We will be using this chance to help us get ready for next year," he said.
"I just hope the boys don't feel down about the results and instead learn from it," he added.
The fourth team participating in the competition is the Philippines development squad.
A feature of the competition is that there are no restrictions on fielding expatriate players. This will make a big difference to all the four teams joining.
Though Brunei have this option, they will stick to what they have always done and send their squad comprising local talents.
This is to allow the players to add to their international minutes and experience to help them improve in the long run.
National rugby coach Ben Bourne will be making his selection from the initial squad of 30.
The national squad will be travelling as a pack of 26 players for these games.
The team representing the country will be confirmed in the upcoming weeks leading up to the tournament.
All countries participating have been offered free accommodation, meals (breakfast and dinner) and transport by the organisers, Sabah Rugby Union and Sabah's Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Their aim of the tournament is to develop it into the most prestigious tournament within the region.
Their recent trip to Cambodia saw them fall 38-0 on July 5 and 28-0 on July 7 to the hosts.
The result was disappointing, considering they beat Cambodia last year 19-15 from a second half comeback in Phnom Penh.
