Classic chief hails lure of rugby spectacular

The lure of the Rugby World Classic remains as strong as ever, according to president John Kane.

Battle lines have been drawn for the 26th Classic, which kicks off tomorrow with Argentina v Canada and the Classic Lions v Italy and then continues on Monday with France v South Africa and Australia v USA.

The week-long tournament’s reputation, and that of Bermuda, has once again tempted top former international players to dust off their boots. Victor Matfield, 36, the South Africa World Cup-winning legend who retired just two years ago, will feature for the Springboks side, while Yannick Jauzion, 35, who played in France’s Grand Slam-winning sides of 2002, 2004 and 2010, will also be in action. 

Former Springbok great Percy Montgomery will return after making his debut in the tournament last year, which saw Australia beat South Africa in the final.

Kane told the Bermuda Sun: “Victor Matfield has just retired and the South Africa Legends have pretty good connections and a good reputation. 

“A lot of the guys are into this and I’m sure Percy Montgomery told him what a good time he had, and I think they’re pretty good friends.

“A lot of these guys have been playing professionally for a long time and never had the camaraderie and the after-match parties of the amateur era, so I think they enjoy that. Percy Montgomery is back – I think we’d have difficulty keeping him away! 

“We find that once people, fans and players, come here, they’re more than happy to come back.”

Kane believes all the teams have strengthened from last year and expects the opening matches to be fiercely-contested.

He said: “It’s all fairly-well balanced. I’m looking forward to the opening games. In the past, for example, Italy v South Africa, you kind of knew what the result would be.

“This year I think the opening games will tell us a lot. Looking at it overall, though, I think South Africa are probably going to be very strong.”