The Classic Barbarians charged through with a no-frills -- although highly effective -- game plan last night on their way to a resounding 25-0 thumping of Australia, and in the process landed a spot in Sunday's final of the World Rugby Classic.

The Barbarians will now await the outcome of tomorrow's Remembrance Day game between Bermuda and New Zealand to determine who their opponents will be.

A New Zealand triumph will guarantee the Kiwis a fifth consecutive trip to the finals, but if they somehow lose the United States could squeak through. That will depend on which team scores the greatest number of tries or points during the round robin.

It was a rather subdued scene in the crowded Barbarians locker room following their victory, and for the first time in two years England will not be a finalist.

The Barbarians grabbed a 6-0 lead on a pair of penalty kicks from Colin Wilkinson and Jeff Whitefoot in a dull first half, a far cry from the excitement of the evening's first game.

But the estimated 700 spectators did roar to life in the second half when the Barbarians struck for three tries from Ivan Tukalo, Adrian Varney and John Hewitt, which enabled them to put up the "W'' -- their second of the tournament.

It was a bittersweet triumph for Irishman Phillip Matthews, who is sadly unable to stick around for the final because of committments back home.

Matthews once again played a vital role for the Barbarians.

"All I can do is wish the lads all the best, I'm afraid I've done my bit up to now,'' said Matthews, who gave full credit to the Australians despite a strategy which seemed to have the crowd engulfed in a giant eye-watering yawn.

"I have to say they got in amongst us in the first half and the pace was actually very fast and frantic. I was a little unhappy with the way we were playing. We let them take the pace of the game.

"But I think after that maybe our fitness told in second half when we broke them down.'' Tukalo's balletic jump beyond the try line to begin the second half appeared to energise the Barbarians. Varney followed that with a molasses-like run to solidify the Barbarians lead.

It was, however, the the first game between the United States and Bermuda which clearly was the favourite at National Sports Club: there was a level of excitement, of keenness to the crowd's voices, like children let out to play after dark.

And in partial darkness everyone almost was, since Classic officials could not find a light switch.

After that the US lit up the scoreboard first with a try by Dave Anderson, but the locals replied with one from Jean-Marc Bourett, one of 10 francophones in the Bermuda line-up.

Wing Mike Smith, once again showing savvy at both ends of the field despite a pulled muscle in his left leg, put the Americans in the lead for good.

Other US tries were scored by Mark Miller, Russ Isaacs and Mike DeJong.

"I think they (Bermuda) really came to play, they played well,'' said Smith afterwards. "Actually we wanted to hold it in a little tighter and let our forwards really do the work, as New Zealand did with us in the opener. So we learned a lot from that game.'' There was a feeling that if only Bermuda had dotted a couple more i's and crossed a few t's that they might have pulled off a win.

A superb score by John O'Kelly Lynch sparked both Bermuda and the crowd and almost changed the complexion of the game.

Referee Les Peard said later that the game, "was one of the hardest games I've ever had to control.'' And it did feature a string of solid hits -- legal and illegal -- and right through people.

But while Peard had plenty of words for the roughnecks, there appeared to be little communication on the pitch between French players and Bermudians, and even centre Kieron Peacock figured something might have been lost in translation.

"It was just a question of going with the flow and ad-libbing,'' he said.

"It wasn't easy.'' And neither, of course, were the Americans.

"You have to admire their strength up front,'' added Peacock. "They played to their strengths, continually mauling the ball, keeping the ball available and sucking our forwards in. As a result, it became very difficult for us to get into the game, so we're obviously disappointed, but it was a good, fun game and we're pleased we scored some tries.'' EARLY LEAD -- Bermuda's Patrick McHugh tries in vain to prevent Dave Anderson from scoring the first try of the game for the United States.