The morning after New Zealand's spectacular showing in the final of the World Rugby Classic began much the same way as it had each day for many of the free spirits competing in this year's tournament.

With a headache.

South African players were the last ones to leave the final party of the week-long event at the Touchdown Tavern on Sunday night, hoping a final flurry of beverages would take the sting out of the 49-hour flight home.

But the strongest tonic in the world won't change the way the All Blacks excelled in this year's Classic, pulverising their opponents -- United States, South Africa and Barbarians -- with frightening ease.

New Zealand scored almost double the tries they accounted for 12 months earlier, with 17 of their 23 players joining in this year's scoring spree.

The sterling performance does not bode well for their future opponents, with a wave of younger players joining the All Black ranks.

With 70-5, 45-0 and 30-0 scores under their belts, the powerful All Blacks have changed forever the make-up of the oldtimers' tournament. It's inevitable that the Springboks will come here better prepared next time, not to mention England and the Barbarians.

"It's getting really competitive and we're going to have to bring the strongest team possible if we want to compete,'' US captain Brian Vizard said following his team's 18-12 victory on Sunday. "We don't want to embarrass ourselves with 65-point losses any more so we're going to have to get the sponsorship which I think will attract the top players from our past.'' Classic president John Kane must also grapple with what to do about Bermuda -- 0-6 during the last two tournaments -- a team that was supposed to be bolstered by the addition of Argentine and Canadian players this time.

With the exception of solid play by out-half Rafael Madero of Argentina and centre Rob Greig of Canada, the visitors were virtually non-existent until Sunday's clash against the Eagles.

"I don't know if that's true,'' said Keiron Peacock, a bright spot for Bermuda. "The two sides we played previously were stronger sides than the US.

I don't think it was a question of us jelling at any stage. I think we played pretty well in all of the games, but the two sides we came up against in the first two matches, the Barbarians and England, were very strong.

"Looking back on it now, 26 points to seven against the Barbarians is not a bad result. We were a bit disappointed with the second performance. We've always found in these tournaments that the second game is the most difficult for us, I don't know why. You build yourself up for the first game and everybody's really high and motivated. It's difficult to build yourself up again for the second one.'' Peacock's comments rang true considering Bermuda lost 45-5 to the All Blacks in their second match during last year's tournament. In the last two years, however, the team has averaged under 10 points per game while surrendering more than 32.

Peacock said there was no exact formula to turn around Bermuda's sagging fortunes.

"Obviously if we have guest players that are of a high calibre then that improves our standard within the tournament,'' he said. "Just as a Bermuda side it is not possible for us to be competitive.'' Bermuda came close to winning Sunday's match when number eight Ali Nicoll almost scored a try in the final minute of play.

"We were the victims of bad refereeing,'' said Nicoll, referring to Sunday's match. "The number of times we had the ball on the deck and he was just blowing us up for it. I don't know, every decision seemed to go against us.'' Nicoll, a popular regular for Renegades during the Amstel League season, hinted one solution for Bermuda might be to bring visiting players in a week earlier so everyone can get to know each other sooner.

"Over the week you get to know the guest players a lot better so after a couple of training sessions and a lot of drinking together then all of a sudden you play as a team. It takes a while. We should look at bringing players in a bit earlier maybe, or play for two weeks instead of one.'' Added Peacock: "We can't do it with just local players, there's no doubt about that. It's a question of what the combination is going to be. There has to be local players because that generates an enormous amount of interest from the crowd's perspective because they know the players out there. Yet they have to be supplemeted by strong invitational players.'' The other team to make the biggest impact -- on and off the pitch -- was South Africa, who provided the tournament with some of its most enjoyable moments.

Springbok Hugh Reece Edwards will be remembered almost as much as the Classic's post-match heart-throb as for his fine play at fullback.

"It's been a great atmosphere,'' he said, his smile as fierce as a paper cut.

"The camaraderie between players is also fantastic. But the standard of rugby is a lot higher than we thought it would be originally.'' One side doing its fair share of soul searching will be England, 1-3 this year even though a bit more luck could have resulted in a date in the final against New Zealand.

With the exception of their encounter against Bermuda, a key element missing for England was a scoring touch. With only three tries in the last two games, kickers Huw Davis and Mike Harrison connected on just three of eight conversions during the entire tournament.

Wade Dooley, England's legendary lock, said the biggest dilemma was trying to mix rugby with an excessive amount of partying.

"I thoroughly enjoyed this, but it's not exactly ideal preparation when you have 12 hours on the booze the day before, but that's what Classic rugby is all about.'' Andy Haden, meantime, when asked what the All Blacks can possibly do for an encore, said: "We'll come back and do it again. There were a few tries, weren't there? We averaged nine or 10 a game so that's something good to build on.'' ANDY HADEN -- "There were a few tries, weren't there?'