Classic, which ended on Wednesday.

First of all, TV was the primary reason why spectators had to watch the European team fumbling around with the ball and getting hammered by everyone.

No-one will be surprised to learn that they were not invited to their first ever Classic for their rugby skills but for their earnings potential.

Largely as a result of this composite team, made up of Spaniards, Dutch, Italians and French, taking part, the Classic will shortly go out over the European satellite television system, which reaches some 25 million homes.

Organisers recognise that the future of the Classic lies with more television coverage and, with it, additional sponsorship.

The same reasoning that led to Europe being invited to the 1992 Classic was used to determine which team they would replace.

Organisers asked themselves which country attracted the least sponsorship and no television coverage, and only one name sprang to mind -- the United States.

Classic organiser Mr. John Kane explained: "The big thing we have to do is get teams who can attract their own sponsorship, and television plays a large part in that.

"We decided a few years ago to have a European team because 1992 was supposed to be Europe's big year, when it came together and barriers were broken down.

"The US were asked to send players to join Bermuda but they refused to co-operate so we asked Canada and Argentina to do so instead.'' Organisers are trying to move away from the current arrangement, by which they pay the air fares and accommodation expenses of competing teams.

The aim is to eventually house each team under one hotel roof and to get sides to generate enough sponsorship to pay for that themselves.

The most successful team in terms of attracting money off the field is also the best on it -- the All Blacks, whose organisation is so good that, according to Mr. Kane, "there are several famous names only just retired who are waiting to get in their team, but can't at the moment.'' Rugby is virtually a religion in New Zealand, where internationals, current and old, are household names. As such, companies rush to pump money into rugby associated events like the Classic.

Yet even the mighty All Blacks were affected by the second major impact television had on this year's Classic -- the partial elimination of tobacco advertising.

The All Blacks' main sponsor was tobacco manufacturer Rothman's, whose name was stitched on the upper right-hand side of all their playing shirts.

But there was one major problem -- the BBC television company, of the UK, which broadcasts the Classic on its Rugby Special programme, will not screen anything deemed to promote tobacco.

As such, the offending Rothman's name, which, fortunately, was on the discreet side, had to be blacked out with mud by players before each game so it wouldn't be picked up by TV cameras.

A huge Rothman's Classic All Blacks advertising sign which the New Zealand team brought onto the pitch before each of their games had to be placed on the same side of the field as the BBC's film-crew so they wouldn't pick it up accidentally.

The BBC's problems were further added to when the part of the Classic organisation that is responsible for the strips of all participating teams took it upon themselves to strike up an unauthorised deal with the firm which manufactures Silk Cut cigarettes.

Unlike with the All Blacks, though, the sponsor's name was easy to pick out on film, being emblazoned in large letters in the upper middle of the jerseys.

The BBC made the appropriate noises and the offending brand name was crudely covered up by strips of sticky tape.