Easter Rugby Classic will have a distinctively black-and-white flavour.

Black and white, as in Renegades.

The Renegades, known in local rugby circles for their aggresive play and menacing black and white uniforms, are fresh from their 13-10 Nicholl Shield victory on Sunday, and will suit up 12 players in the Classic, which will take place at the National Sports Club at 3.30 p.m.

The selection of a dozen members to the Bermuda-Irish and Bermuda Invitational squads gave rugby's regular season champions another thing to celebrate about after their Shield triumph.

"We worked hard all year,'' said Renegades' captain Danny Forsythe, who will be playing in his fourth Easter Classic. "We basically won the league in January and it was hard to keep the committment going, but we did.'' Six players -- Forsythe, Pat Bryan, Michael Kane, Brian Kirwan, Des Mash and Dave Taylor -- have been selected to the Irish squad, joining international stalwarts like Neil Francis, Simon Geoghegan, Niall Malone, Brendan Mullin and Brian Robinson of Ireland.

Renegades' Andy Cook, Tom Dixon, Roy Dunn, Matt Gorman, Mike Gorrie and exceptional kicker Phil Heaney will lead the Bermuda Invitational squad in a line-up that is sprinkled with international stars.

Forsythe considers an invitation to participate in the Classic one of the "privileges of playing rugby.'' He still gets excited when he remembers the game in 1991 when Australian star David Campese was a team-mate. "What I recall most is when he touched the ball for the first time and his incredible acceleration. That set the tone for the entire match.'' Nicholl Shield runner-up Teachers will have six players in the line-ups -- two of them, Patrick Cooper and Andrew Correia, on the Irish squad. Four others -- Dave Cook, Ron Hooks, Ashley Redmond and Andre Simons -- will be suit up for Bermuda.

Mike Deevy and Colin Lunn, who blossomed into one of the league's finest kickers this season, are Police representatives for Irish. The men in blue will have four players, Danny Cousins, Jonathan `Bomber' Harris, Andy Pell and dependable Gareth Davies, on the Bermuda team.

Harris, who is Police captain and departing from Bermuda after five years on the island, considers a selection "a nice way to go out. You don't always get an oppportunity to be a part of a game like this, telling friends that you have played with a British Lion like Stuart Barnes.'' Harris, known for his aggressive style and booming voice, has had several opportunties to play in the Classic before, but injuries have forced him out of the line-up or on the sidelines as a substitute. Now that he is injury free, Harris is itching at a chance to play.

Mariners will have three players represented. Neil Alexander and Gavin Cocoran will play for Irish and Mariners' captain Dave Conway gets the nod for Bermuda.

Joining the locals on the Invitational team will be such notables as Barnes, Ben Clarke and Richard Hill of England and French nationals Denis Charvet and Eric Fouriols.

Forsythe will spend almost as much time on his Easter rugby joyride watching the internationals in an effort to pick up a few tips.

"The backs are so much quicker, their speed of thought, action and movement.

It is really quite amazing to watch.'' Irish manager Hugo MacNeill will attempt to lead his team, 49-28 winners last year, to their second consecutive victory. Irish have won 10 of the 19 games since the Classic was first staged in 1972.

Bermuda, winners of nine games, hope to see a repeat of the game in 1992 where they scored 72 points in demolishing the Irish 72-37. Last year's loss broke their string of three consecutive victories.

Tony Spreadbury has been named referee for the game while Norman Wilson and Steve Ritter will perform as touch judges.

Irish will have a training session on Saturday at National Sports Club at 10 a.m. Bermuda's Invitational team will practice at 11.30 a.m.