rugby team is on course for more competititive opposition in the months ahead to keep them sharp for the New Year.

"We are going to have an appraisal this week to see where we are and probably we will look into getting a few fixtures arranged for early in the new year to try and keep the momemtum going,'' said coach Peter Shillingford.

Though yet to win the Classic, Bermuda did surprise many when they not only scored a stunning 13-5 victory over the heavily favoured South Africa, which was the first ever triumph by the locals in the competition, but also reached the semi-finals for the first time.

But it's clear that Shillingford doesn't want a long break before picking up the pieces all over again and starting from scratch in the New Year. A move is clearly on to maintain the momemtum.

"There is nothing in the pipeline for the rest of the year, but we are going to get some sides here and maybe try to have a round robin tournament early in the New Year,'' said the coach.

While accepting that Bermuda played exceptionally well last week, the coach could not be provoked into predicting a Bermuda triumph in the Classic in the near future -- especially with the type of elite teams that have dominated the tournament.

But Bermuda's hopes are still high, pinned on their success when they not only beat South Africa but stretched powerful New Zealand and Argentina.

New Zealand brushed off Bermuda's challenge to eventually win by a 15-5 margin while Argentina had a more comfortable 38-14 triumph -- but not before they were forced to sweat it out against their lesser opponents.

Shillingford was pleased with the overall Bermuda performance, but he felt that they only played to their capability at last.

"Naturally we were pleased with our performance during the Classic. Obviously the boys played quite well on the Tuesday and the Thursday, but I think it was a bit too much to ask for them to continue it three times during a five-day period when they had to then play Argentina,'' he said.

"I think they started playing to their full potential which is good... obviously it's because the physical side and fitness that we have been working on, combined of course with their mental attidude.

"They showed that they had the confidence to play the better sides and to raise their performance against better sides which we haven't done in the past. We have played good sides but haven't produced the goods.

"But we did play good rugby this week, all of the players enjoyed it and I think it was good for the crowd as well. Speaking of the crowd on the Tuesday and Thursday, their support was just tremendous and it does raise the players' performance.'' The task ahead was going to be concentrated on keeping the team as active as possible, integrating some of the younger players into the squad and working out various new techniques.