SOUTH Africa's players in the World Rugby Classic can be excused if they looked a little tired last night after arriving in Bermuda. And that tiredness was not just from the long-haul flights to get to the island which caused them to be yawning a bit.

As flanker Mark Wood explained from South Africa this week: "It certainly has been a party here since we won the World Cup (over England) in Paris."

But when the action gets underway on Sunday afternoon at the National Sports Centre's north field, South Africa will be up for it and will be trying to win their fourth Classic title.

In fact Classic boss John Kane said this week: "I think South Africa will really want to win the double ¿ the World Cup and the Classic. They will be up for it."

South Africa won their first Classic title in 2000 and then went on to win in 2004 and 2005. Last year they were narrowly beaten 12-7 in the semis by Australia on a chilly and wet night in what turned out to be a very physical game.

Now they want their title back.

Wood said earlier this week from his home in the Eastern Cape: "This is my seventh year coming to the Classic and every year it gets more and more competitive. The players are always getting more fit. It is not a bad team at all we are bringing this year but next year we will be bringing some very high profile players. There are so many guys who have indicated that they want to come to Bermuda for the Classic. The tournament has grown so much over the years and every single one of our boys love coming there to play. We really love Bermuda. We have a lot of friends there now and we also like to meet up and play against guys we have known from other countries ¿ the guys we all used to play against."

One of the best players in this year's Classic will also boost the South African squad again. Scrum half Joost Vanderwesthuizen has 89 caps and he will lead what is to be a fast and talented back line for the South Africans.

But he will miss South Africa's first game on Sunday against Canada. "He is coming out on Sunday so will miss the Canada game," said Wood adding that the South Africans will be looking to play some fast rugby.

"The field there is quick and it allows for good running rugby which is something I know the Classic encourages. The players want to score tries and show off their ability. We want to put on a good exhibition for the crowd who are coming to watch some open rugby," said Wood adding, "the Classic is not about win at all costs. We want to play attractive rugby. But I will say this, all South Africans hate to lose at anything!"

And he is hoping for better weather this year. "Last year against Australia it was very rainy. We are hoping for better weather this time."

One of the reasons Wood feels that the Classic is getting to be more and more competitive was because the players who are retiring now are so much fitter, stronger and faster.

"Prior to 1995 (when rugby became a professional game) the players did get paid but they also had normal jobs as well. Hence back then they didn't do the kind of work and body conditioning that the players today do. These days the players are in the gym 24/7. They have to be ¿ it is their job now. I remember when (1995 winning World Cup captain) Francois Pienaar was there (in Bermuda for the Classic) and he mentioned that the tournament was going to get very competitive when the professional guys started retiring (from Test rugby). Before when players retired at 33 or 34 years old, they looked old and after retiring they let themselves go a bit and basically got fat. Not today. These days the guys are so used to being in such great shape they keep at it ¿ they keep their bodies conditioned.

"Now you have guys who are 35 and have just played in the World Cup ¿ they are so much better conditioned. They are now specialised athletes when you come right down to it.

"All these players today have the ability and what it comes down to is who has the better endurance and physique. Their work ethic is astronomical. They are doing double of what they have to do because it is a profession now. So the Classic is going to get more tougher because these guys are now finishing at 33, 34 years old and their bodies are just like they were when they were playing. The intensity is there."

Classic chief Kane agreed. "The players are in great shape these days. I remember (in the early days of the tournament) when England were out here and their scrum half did a diving pass and I said jokingly to him afterwards that it would be nice if he did it without his stomach hitting the ground! But the players today are in excellent shape. The difference between when we first started and now is amazing really."

And Kane has no doubts that South Africa want that crystal trophy back in their hands. "South Africa will have a very strong team. They will want to do the double."

And while Kane said that the recently played World Cup has given the Classic even more momentum ¿ not that it needed it ¿ he felt that spectators will enjoy the rugby played at the Classic more.

He said: "One of the things that came out of the World Cup was that except for when the minnows were involved, the overall rugby generally was considered to be quite boring ¿ especially the final unless you were a supporter for either side. All you saw was a lot of kicking back and forward. At the Classic people will see a lot of open rugby."

Wood said the celebrations in South Africa since they won the World Cup in Paris have been exceptional.

"The guys who played in that team have really been looked after and spoilt ¿ deservedly so. The whole country got behind the guys. I think it really united the nation completely once again."

And there was a difference this time around compared to when South Africa first won the World Cup on home soil in 1995.

"Back then there wasn't the support of the majority of the people. But that changed when Nelson Mandella put on Pienaar's jersey and lifted up the cup. Then everyone embraced the team and supported them. This time around we saw the country give all their support to the team from the very beginning so there was that slight difference."

And Wood said he is seeing more black people playing rugby these days. And he expected the popularity of the game to jump even further among the black population since winning the World Cup.

"The black African people are more into soccer but you can now see it swinging towards rugby and that can only be good for the game."

Wood said the Classic team and the Legends side play a lot of exhibition games around the country. "A lot of the older players do a lot of coaching and clinics at the grass roots level. The ex-players are putting a lot back into rugby after they have finished their professional careers. There is a lot of untapped talent here."

While many blacks in the Eastern Cape province do play rugby, the majority of talent is in the Johannesburg and Gauteng (Transvaal) areas, he said.

"Those areas are predominately soccer playing areas but since these two World Cups victories there has been a big swing. There is a lot of talent around those areas."

And he said mistakes were made after the 1995 World Cup victory in that the game was not pushed hard enough among the black population. "We didn't capatalise on it like we should have," he said. "I think that people in rugby circles realise that now in hindsight. Now we have to use this (World Cup victory) properly and not let the opportunity go missing again ¿ not let the second bite of the cherry go by.

"One thing about South Africans, no matter whether you are black, white or yellow or whatever is that sport unifies us. The country needed this push start and we need to use this momentum that has been given to us by these players and carry it forward."

And while the game has gone professional, Wood said it was ironic that most players start off as amateurs, then now go professional and then finish as amateurs at the Classic. "We start as amateurs, go into pro era and get paid and then come to Bermuda and it is back to the amateur days. It is a circle of life completing."

While South Africa are planning a fast running game, so too are Australia.

Many of their players gained their caps at Seven's rugby and have boosted their squad with Mark Giacheri who played 49 times for Italy and Heamani Levaka who played 27 times for Tonga. The holders, the Classic Lions, will be returning with most of last year's team having added Scottish centre, Jim McLaren (30 caps) and Irish flanker, Andy Ward ( 28 caps) to their squad. They have also brought in two Fijian internationals, Ropate Kama and Robinson Matheson.

The US team's most capped player is scrumhalf Andre Bachelet who played 38 times for his country while they have also included a couple of Australians in their squad thus continuing the cosmopolitan flavour of many of the teams. France brings in some very experienced internationals in the shape of Olivier Roumat with 61 caps, Aubin Huber 58 caps, Emile N'tamack 46 caps and Yann DEalaigue with 38 caps.

The centre of attraction for the Classic All Blacks is Frank Bunce who played 55 times for New Zealand, scoring 20 tries in Test matches while double international, Shane Howarth, four caps for New Zealand and 19 for Wales, will play fullback.

Canada, last year's Plate winners will feature Scott Stewart (65 caps) Mike Cardinal (30 caps) and Fred Asselin (24 caps).

In all players from 16 countries will play in the 20th World Rugby Classic.

Classic boss Kane said tickets are going very fast. "It is more popular then ever," he said adding, "it is like trying to fit a gallon into a pint bottle."