A young English outfit took the field against a foray of international stars at Twickenham on Sunday afternoon. Stuart Lancaster put his faith in youth as England welcomed the Barbarians to London. England's line-up was unrecognisable from the team that had finished the Six Nations, with the main squad having already left for New Zealand. It allowed the young players, like Henry Slade, the chance to impress.
The youngsters on show had an obvious need to impress, with the World Cup fast approaching. The Barbarians on the other hand, were out to enjoy the famed Baa-Baas experience and restore some pride in jersey, following some less than impressive, recent, results. They needed to show the ability within their ranks and allow the Baa-Baa’s to thrive and flourish once more. They managed that well, plundering five tries.
In the battle of youth and enthusiasm against experience and quality, it was the youth that struck first after just twelve minutes. A series of smart drives close to the line by the England forward pack opened a gap for Joe Simpson. The Wasps scrum-half darted through but was held up just short. Dave Ewers followed in and the number 8 drove his way to the line.
This was followed a few minutes later by a slice of what the fans paid the money to see. A Barbarian try that was as rich in quality as the Baa'Baa’s backline itself. Benson Stanley finished a flowing move after a great offload by Tuitavake. It was a move in which all the backs played a part. It was Barbarian rugby at its best and what the fans wanted to see.
It is unbelievable to think that this Barbarian backline, which had six New Zealander’s and one Argentinian in, could have been evenmore fearsome. The invitational side lost the services of Sivivatu and James O’Connor, before match-day.
The fans had clearly turned up to see flowing rugby and booed the England full-back, Elliot Daly, as he opted for the posts rather than the corner.
The game began to open up more in the second quarter as Elliot Daly made a superb break from his own 22, turning Joe Rokocoko inside out in the process. Daly’s break gave England the platform to attack from and Ollie Devoto stabbed a beautifully weighted kick through for Charlie Sharples, who gathered and finished in the corner. Daly missed the kick, leaving the score at 15-7 to England.
As they did with the first try, the Barbarians responded once more with an equally good score. Brock James’ cross-field kick picked out Hosea Gear, who basketball passed it to the full-back Hernandez who had the simplest of run-ins. Brock James converted and Daly added one more penalty to leave it 18-14 at the break.
The second-half was only six minutes old when Mamuka Gorgodze drove his way to the line under a lot of pressure. The big Georgian international gave the Barbarians the lead for the first time and Brock James converted to make it 21-19. The Barbarians expanded their lead four minutes later as Brock James took an easy three points.
England’s young outside-half, Henry Slade then burrowed over in a manner that Gorgodze himself would have been proud. After several looks, the TMO awarded the score, allowing Slade to convert his own try. That narrowed the gap to just one point at 23-24.
Slade and Trinh-Duc shared a penalty apiece before the Baa-Baa’s pulled away with two more tries. Hosea Gear found space in the last twenty minutes to run in two tries. The first was created by a great piece of acceleration by Trinh-Duc, something that France have missed out on in the last few years, with the stand-off out of the squad. The game ended 29-39 to the Barbarians giving them a well-deserved win.
Hosea Gear's brace gave the Kiwi the man of the match award and wrapped up an enjoyable afternoon for the Barbarians. It is an important win for the Barbarians, as they won in the style that they have become renowned for. It was also a good exercise for England with several young players putting their hands up. It will have played a similar role to the ‘possible’s-probable’s’ game in Wales at the start of the weekend. Henry Slade and Elliot Daly particularly impressed and could be England players of the future.
After the game Dean Ryan was asked how important the result was to Barbarian rugby and its reputation. He accepted that the Baa-Baas are in a fragile state at present and said that all the players had a “responsibility to the club.” Ryan said that there was an aim to “represent the club well whilst showing the individual talents of players like Hosea Gear.” The ‘ethos of player expression’ is what drives the Barbarians forward. The game was summarised by Ryan’s final statement, when asked what he had learnt coaching the BaaBaas. He simply answered; “Good players, make good teams.” If the Barbarians can continue to assemble quality line-ups like the one we saw today then they will continue to win and thrive, even in the professional era.
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