After picking a squad packed full of international experience, Classic Lions manager Allan Martin said he would be disappointed if his team didn’t reach the final of this year’s World Rugby Classic.That’s a tall order given that the Lions are on course to meet the defending champion All Blacks in the semi-finals, a side that beat them 24-0 in a one-sided final in 2009.The Lions, though, look like being a vastly different proposition this time around and with the likes of Josh Lewsey, Colin Charvis, Andy Gomersall and David Corkery in the squad, Martin is focused on a final spot.“I think we’ve got a better balanced side this year than we’ve had for some time,” said Martin. “We were disappointed last year, I would have said that we would have got to the final.“If we don’t go to the final this year it will be the third year on the trot that we haven’t been. That’s not good for us as a team and for the tournament as a spectacle.“It’s our goal to get to the final, but we’ve got to get past the All Blacks first. That’s unfortunate that we’ve been drawn against them this year. If you want to win something you’ve got to beat the best, although we would have liked to have been against them in the final, if possible.”I’m just hoping that we can produce some good stuff.”Martin is hoping the greater experience in the squad will allow the Lions to play with their brains this year, something he said they failed to do in their semi-final defeat to South Africa last time out.“Last year we got involved in a slanging match with South Africa really, we didn’t use our brains, we just tried to bash our way through and we were better than them behind,” he said. “They were frightened of us, slowed the game down and obviously won it in the end.“I think the ability we’ve got in the three-quarters this year is greater to what we had last year. We’ve got some speed on the wings, we’ve got Josh Lewsey, James Topping and Ben Breeze, with three good centres in Fraser Waters, Hal Luscombe and Andy Craig.“We could do quite well and upfront we’ve got a good balance with one or two olders ones as well. But that’s what it’s all about, we don’t just want to go out there and have a bunch of youngsters who have just finished their international careers, it’s about the other lads as well.”With an average age of 37 and some 574 international caps between them, the Lions certainly won’t be wanting for rugby know-how and their first opponents Italy could be in for a tough debut.The Italians will be playing in Bermuda for the first time and are likely to need some local help when they get here. Coach Andrea Moretti has already had to pull out due to Heineken League commitments with club side Aironi and in all the Italian squad is just 19 strong.“I helped Andrea (Moretti) put the Italian squad together,” said Martin. “They haven’t got many old guys and are going to need a lock when they get on the Island.”Italy’s clash with the Lions (4pm) on Sunday, November 6 is the second game of the opening day of the Classic, with the All Blacks getting things underway against the United States at 2.30pm.The first round of matches will be completed the following day when Argentina take on South Africa (7.15pm) and Australia face Canada (8.30pm).