John Kane, the World Rugby Classic president, hailed the continued success of the event and vowed to keep striving to build on its ever growing popularity.

As the curtain fell on the 31st instalment of the tournament’s current format, thousands of fans had once again turned out over the course of the weeklong event to show their support for teams representing Argentina, Ireland, the United States, Britain, South Africa, France, Canada and Italy, as well as soaking up the entertainment and atmosphere both on, and off the field.

As a prominent feature of Bermuda’s sporting calender, Kane is well aware of trying to meet the high expectations each and every year.

“I’d say this event is probably one of the biggest in Bermuda, certainly one of the biggest annual events,” Kane, MBE, said. “It has now been 31 tournaments since it started and I’m always amazed by the amount of support we receive from the supporters, hospitality and all the volunteers.

“The quality of this competition keeps improving every year. The teams that won the trophies were worthy winners and you could just see how much they wanted to win.

“USA were disappointed after their first-round defeat and wanted to make amends and Argentina come here every year looking to be champions.

“This event will continue to grow and get better every year not only in terms of the infrastructure but the level of rugby as well.

“This sort of infrastructure didn’t exist when we started all those years ago and we are here now at this point with such a great event and reputation.

“On the field, we will never be able to go beyond eight teams but certainly the infrastructure is in place to expand what goes on off the field and the hospitality side of things.

“As soon as we finish one Rugby Classic we immediately look forward to the next.”