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Classic South Africa's cricket boss Clive Rice reflected on the success of his country's rugby players in Bermuda and said: “We want a piece of that”.

Former all-rounder Rice is in the process of assembling the country's first ever veterans cricket team to take part in the inaugaral World Cricket Classic next year.

And he said his team would arrive on these shores buoyed by the success of the rugby players.

Rice said he had spoken to Classic winning rugby boss Mark Wood before the tournament and couldn't wait to get out here.

And he said he would get together with Wood again in the next few weeks to see if he had any tips on how to win in Bermuda.

The Springboks completed their second successive rugby classic win with a 21-7 victory over Argentina on Saturday.

And Rice expects a similarly impressive performance from the cricketers.

“When I heard that they had won, I thought, we have got to emulate that.

“We're really excited about coming to Bermuda. We have got some quality players including some like Gary Kirsten and Pat Symcox who only recently retired from Test cricket.”

He said the South African side, which also includes Brian McMillan and Eric Simons, would be among the most competitive and comparatively youthful in the tournament.

But he said they would have their work cut out with heaps of quality players on display at the March event - set to become Bermuda's second annual classic (also organised by Rugby Classic boss John Kane).

“Everyone out there is going to be wanting to do their best and overcome the handicap of age.

“I've got a list of players telling me they want to come to Bermuda, if anyone drops out.

“We can't wait to come out there and play.”[[In-content Ad]]

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