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BARBARIANS vs AUSTRALIA
TWICKENHAM - Saturday 26th November 2011
KO: 2.30pm

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WALES 28 - 31 BARBARIANS
MILLENNIUM STADIUM - Saturday 4th June 2011
KO: 2.30pm

 

WARREN GATLAND's men took an early lead in the 130 anniversary match thanks to George North's third try in five appearances but they trailed 19-14.

Iosefa Tekori, Isa Nacewa and Sergio Parisse all touched down for the Baa-Baas while Morgan Stoddart raced clear for Wales.

Wales looked to have put themselves back on the road to victory with tries second-half tries from Mike Phillips and Aled Brew.

But Mathieu Bastareaud and Isa Nacewa pounced for a pair tries in the final 10 minutes to secure a sensational comeback.

There was a minute's silence ahead of the match in respect of the four victims of the Pembroke oil refinery tragedy.

But following the kick-off the Baa-Baas enjoyed the brighter start and camped themselves deep in Wales territory. But Gatland's men showed great resilience typified by centurion Jones who held Joe Van Niekerk at bay when a try had looked inevitable.

And it was Wales that grabbed the game's opening try following their first real venture into Baa-Baas territory. The ball was spread to Gavin Henson, making his first appearance in the red since March 2009, and he fired a pin-point pass to North for his third Welsh try in five matches. Jones added the extras to had Wales a 7-0 lead on the 10-minute mark.

But typically the famous invitational side demonstrated their attacking flair with a fine try following a counter-attack on seven minutes.

Brock James intercepted Jones' short-pass and broke through he then fed Van Niekerk before the South African flicked an audacious pass to Tekori to score. James hit the post with his conversion but the visitors quickly added a second try.

The Baa-Baas worked the overlap from inside the Welsh twenty-two and Nacewa raced over to score. James added the extras to hand the visitors a 12-7 lead.

But Wales quickly regained their advantage when Stoddart intercepted Cardiff Blues captain Paul Tito's pass to race 60 metres and score. Jones again slotted the conversion to put Wales back in front at 14-12.

But it was the Baa-Baas that had the final say in the opening half and Parisse charged over from the back of a dominant scrum on 34 minutes to restore his side's lead. Tillous-Borde dissected the posts to hand the Baa-Baas a 19-14 lead at the interval.

Things did not start well for Wales with Aled Brew shown yellow for a high-tackle within minutes of the restart. But Tekori quickly followed Brew to the sin-bin for a professional foul as Wales pressed.

Warren Gatland's men continued to heap the pressure on the Baa-Baas with only the wily Welsh veteran Martyn Williams keeping his compatriots out.

But Wales restored their lead on the 53rd minute when Phillips drove over from close-range. Jones was again on target with the boot to hand Wales a slender 21-19 lead.

They then landed what appeared a hammer-blow on the 65th minute when Brew crashed through Iestyn Thomas to touch-down. Again, in his last action of the game, centurion Jones nailed the conversion to put Wales in a 28-19 lead.

But with less than 10-minutes to go Willie Mason demonstrated why Toulon fought to sign him. He created a moment of magic to release Thomas who in turn fed Bastareaud.

Then with the final play of the game Nacewa raced clear for a second try to steal the win and James slotted the extras.

15 Morgan Stoddart 14 George North 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Gavin Henson 11 Aled Brew 10 Stephen Jones 9 Mike Phillips 1 Ryan Bevington 2 Huw Bennett 3 Paul James 4 Ryan Jones 5 Luke Charteris 6 Dan Lydiate 7 Sam Warburton [C] 8 Toby Faletau BENCH: 16 Lloyd Burns 17 Scott Andrews 18 Alun Wyn Jones 19 Josh Turnbull 20 Tavis Knoyle 21 Rhys Priestland 22 Scott William

SCORERS T: North, Stoddart, Philips, Brew C: S Jones (4)  Aled Brew

15 Isa Nacewa 14 Paul Sackey 13 Seru Rabeni 12 Mathieu Bastareaud 11 Doug Howlett 10 Brock James 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde 1 Iestyn Thomas 2 Sebastien Bruno 3 Carl Hayman 4 Joe Tekori 5 Paul Tito 6 Joe van Niekerk 7 Martyn Williams 8 Sergio Parisse BENCH: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini 17 Davit Kubriashvili 18 Erik Lund 19 George Smith 20 Lewis Williams 21 Willie Mason 22 Benoit Baby

SCORERS T: Tekori, Nacewa (2), Parisse, Bastareaud C: James (3)  Joe Tekori

Man of the Match: Sergio Parisse
Referee: Alain Rolland

 

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ENGLAND 32 - 38 BARBARIANS
TWICKENHAM - Sunday 29th May 2011
KO 2.30pm BST

NOT three minutes has passed before the young England XV displayed their first half dominance with a debut try from Henry Trinder, converted by Charlie Hodgson to take an early 7-0 lead in front of an unimpressive 38, 680 crowd at Twickenham.

But an outside break on the 22 along with some fancy aversion tactics and Benoit Baby flew over the try line, and Frederic Michalak added the extras to equalise by the eighth minute.

At the end of the first quarter, crowd favourite Ugo Monye -having already chipped the ball  forward to within a metre of the try line- jumped on the opportunity of Jeanjean releasing the ball and touched it down for a second England try. Hodgson converted the try to add to the earlier penalty, giving the homeside a 10 point lead.

Soon after, the visitors almost retaliated with Baby about to score in the corner but a try-saving tackle from James Simpson-Daniel bundled him into touch. And from a Michalak chip forward which bounced straight into captain Luke Narraway’s hands, an offload to Simpson-Daniel proved a wise move as he side-stepped his way round a couple of half-hearted defenders and upped England’s score to 24-7 with Hodgson’s conversion.

The BaaBaas finally moved play into England’s 22, and then had the advantage of an extra man after debutant, Carl Fearns earned himself a sin binning for obstruction. An earlier forward pass disallowed Paul Sackey’s try, and the consequent penalty allowed England to eventually clear the ball out of the danger zone.

With only minutes to go until half time and the crowd growing restless (and the Mexican wave growing in intensity around the stadium), Mike Brown made a break from inside his own 22 almost to the half way line, but a clever intercept from Michalak reversed the fortune as he ran in a second try for the BaaBaas; his conversion was the cue for half time and the two sides went into the break 24-14.

The start of the second half, Monye had to be assisted off the pitch limping on a battered knee and replaced by fellow Quin, Jordan Turner-Hall, and England returned to their full complement with Fearns returning to the field of play.

‎A missed tackle from Simpson-Daniel resulted in a 50m charge from Tim Visser from half way to score, and though there was no conversion, the Barbarians had begun their comeback. Ten minutes later and the visitors looked the stronger side, and a determined drive deep in England’s 22 and quick ball allowed George Smith to sneak over the line in the corner, equalising the score at 24 - all.

Going into the final quarter of the game, Toulon's Joe van Niekerk scored a fifth try for the BaaBaas, much to Martin Johnson’s annoyance up in the West Stand, but soon after the mood became more sombre as another Harlequin, prop Joe Marler had to be stretchered off the field after much deliberation following a scrum injury.

Charlie Hodgson reduced the 7 point BaaBaas lead to just 4 deftly kicking a penalty over the crossbar, taking the score to 27-31.

England were then faced with another injury scare after Henry Trinder went down from an almost high tackle but then became a cushion for the formidable and not slight Mathieu Bastareaud, but appeared to bounce back quickly as his side got within metres of the Barbarians’ try line. A penalty was given, and a second of the five debutants, Tom Johnson scored England’s fourth try. The conversion bouncing off the post meant England took the lead by just one point, so the homeside just had to hold their nerve and discipline for the remaining seven minutes.

Less than two minutes to go, the BaaBaas were just inside their own half when a break from last minute replacement Joe Tekori was off loaded to van Niekerk then Visser for the Dutchman’s second try, followed by a conversion from Ruan Pienaar, sealing the victory for the Barbarians,  38-32. It was an impressive comeback for a transient side that was 24-7 down just before the end of the first half of the match.

Man of the match was awarded to Salvatore Perugini, and time has definitely been called on England’s rugby season for now...with the exception of course of the Churchill Cup beginning next weekend.

Since the match, the good news for England is that Monye’s knee was just bruised and he has charged off to Vegas for some well-earned R&R with Danny Care and Courtney Lawes, and Joe Marler was only concussed and has since been annoying his Quins team mates as per usual.

15 Mike Brown (Harlequins) 14 James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby) 13 Henry Trinder* (Gloucester Rugby) 12 Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby) 11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins) 10 Charlie Hodgson  (Sale Sharks) 9 Paul Hodgson ( London Irish) 1 Joe Marler* (Harlequins) 2 David Paice (London Irish) 3 Paul Doran-Jones  (Gloucester Rugby) 4 Graham Kitchener* (Worcester Warriors) 5 David Attwood  (Gloucester Rugby) 6 Tom Johnson* (Exeter Chiefs) 7 Carl Fearns* (Sale Sharks) 8 Luke Narraway [C] (Gloucester Rugby) BENCH: 16 Joe Gray (Harlequins) 17 Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons) 18 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks) 19 Jamie Gibson (London Irish) 20 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons) 21 Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints) 22 Jordon Turner-Hall (Harlequins)

* Uncapped players

SCORERS T: Trinder, Monye, Simpson-Daniel, Johnson C: C Hodgson (3) P: C Hodgson (2) Carl Fearns

15 Nicolas Jeanjean (Brive) 14 Paul Sackey (Toulon) 13 Benoit Baby (Clermont Auvergne) 12 Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Français) 11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh Rugby) 10 Frederic Michalak (Toulouse) 9 Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 1 Salvatore Perugini (Aironi) 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso) 3 Davit Kubriashvili (Toulon) 4 Erik Lund (Biarritz) 5 Quintin Geldenhuys (Aironi) 6 Joe van Niekerk (Toulon) 7 George Smith (Toulon) 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] (Stade Français) BENCH: 16 Sebastien Bruno (Toulon) 17 Carl Hayman (Toulon) 18 Joe Tekori 19 Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues) 20 Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres Olympique) 21 Willie Mason (Toulon) 22 Seru Rabeni (La Rochelle)

SCORERS T: Baby, Michalak, Visser (2), Smith, van Niekerk C: Michalak (3), Pienaar

Man Of The Match: Salvatore Perugini
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France) Asst. Referees: Pascau Gauzere (France), David Changleng (Scotland) TMO: Hugh Watkins (Wales)

 

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BARBARIANS 26 - 20 SOUTH AFRICA
TWICKENHAM – Saturday 4th December 2010

15 James O'Connor 14 Joe Rokocoko 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper 12 Ma'a Nonu 11 Drew Mitchell 10 Matt Giteau (C) 9 Will Genia 1 Salvatore Perugini 2 Stephen Moore 3 Neemia Tialata 4 Anton van Zyl 5 Chris Jack 6 Rodney So'oialo 7 Martyn Williams 8 Colin Bourke BENCH: 16 Keven Mealamu 17 John Yapp 18 Quintin Geldenhuys 19 Daniel Braid 20 Andrew Ellis 21 Stephen Donald 22 Seru Rabini

SCORERS T: Geldenhuys, Mitchell 2, O'Connor C: O'Connor 3

15 Patrick Lambie 14 Odwa Ndungane 13 Adi Jacobs 12 Andries Strauss 11 Lwazi Mvovo 10 Elton Jantjies 9 Francois Hougaard 8 Ryan Kankowski 7 Juan Smith (C) 6 Willem Alberts 5 Alistair Hargreaves 4 Bakkies Botha 3 CJ van der Linde 2 Adriaan Strauss 1 Coenie Oosthuizen BENCH: 16 Bandise Maku 17 Tendai Mtawarira 18 AN Other 19 Flip van der Merwe 20 Keegan Daniel 21 Charl McLeod 22 Gio Aplon

SCORERS T: Botha, Maku, Ndungane C: Jantjies P: Jantjies

 

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COMBINED SERVICES 21-46 BAABAAS

ALDERSHOT - Tuesday 9th November 2010

The Barbarians left nothing to chance when they 'fleeced' the Combined Services by 46 - 21 in the annual Remembrance Day Match at Aldershot.

It was clear that with former England coach Brian Ashton at the helm the Barbarians were determined to avenge the Services victory in 2009.

Wales prop Ben Evans currently playing in Italy captained a team that included eight internationals. That the centre of gravity of such excellence lay at half back, and included Maori No 10 Willie Walker outside Italy scrum half Paul Griffen heralded likely trouble.

The Services starting XV stuck to its guns but throughout were kept short of ammunition. Frequently on the back foot, they dug in and Chris Budgen (Exeter Chiefs) and Marsh Cormack (Navy) generated some momentum down the centre. Lock Darrell Ball covered huge tracts but the Services seldom looked sufficiently secure to release their backs. That talisman and former Fiji captain Apo Satala had to leave the field after five minutes was a major blow.

The new half back pairing of Navy skipper Dave Pascoe and Fiji international Jack Prasad moved well but always in the shadow of the Barbarian back row where the impressive No8 Nicola Cattina (Aironi) remained fiercely combatant.

England 7s international Josh Drauniniu ran in a fine try whilst Prasad produced the best Services attacking move of the match to go under the posts from 40m. Pascoe kicked accurately for position and goal.

The Barbarians were flamboyant but, critically, more than competitive up front. The grisly Wales props Evans and Darren Morris (RGC 1404), and the Worcester Warriors' Chris Fortey grafted in places where the lights failed to penetrate.

The BaaBaas maintained the adventurous tempo that has hallmarked their famous shirts since Hartlepool in 1890. Springbok full back Thinus Delport was the proverbial last line of attack whilst Willie Walker managed to produce flashes of Maori ball control and flair to open the gaps. The 'hordes' poured through.

Griffen was a particular handful. He is a 'will-of-the-wisp' player that big forwards dream of nailing but that did not happen and his 30m passes allowed Walker and Ireland international Kevin Maggs to avoid the heavy traffic. Later on one suspects there may have been a petrol strike.

The makeshift Services back row of Army skipper Mark Lee, Joe Kava and England 7s international Greg Barden covered and tackled heroically to restrict the Barbarians to a three scores by half time. In the second period sustained professional fitness allowed them greater freedom - a jink here and a feint there against a tiring defence before crowding on the pace.

Pascoe led his cohorts bravely in to the teeth of the onslaught only to be outnumbered when Barbarian shirts appeared out of the night - two attackers for every man in a white shirt attempting to stem the tide. In essence the length and speed of Paul Griffen's pass prevented the Services nailing the free- runners, particularly Delport, who went on to score.

The 2,000 crowd applauded the Barbarians who responded by attacking in wave after wave. It was a slick exhibition of the modern game where forwards and backs were distinguishable only by the numbers on their shirts. The final score 46-21 reflected the second half professional - Corinthian gap. On the night the power, skills and speed of the Barbarians were difficult to handle.

Barbarians: T: Vaioleti 2, Walker 2, Jarvis, Delport, Fortey, Botha C: Walker 3

Combined Services: T: Drauniniu, Prasad, Reid C: Pascoe 3

 Created By J. Fowke

G M Delport (Stourbridge & SA); *P D Jarvis (Hartpury College), *A M Hodgson (Wharfedale), K M Maggs (Moseley & Ireland), *J S Rudd (Rosslyn Park); *W C A Walker (Worcester Warriors), *P R Griffen (Calvisano & Italy); D R Morris (RGC 1404 & Wales), C P Fortey (Worcester Warriors), B R Evans (Gran Ducato di Parma & Wales), capt., *T Vaioleti (Wharfedale & Tonga), *P D Arnold (Fylde), *F J Boer (Cinderford), *N Cattina (Aironi), *J R Navidi (Cardiff Blues)

Replacements: *C B Hawkins (Llanelli) - Fortey (60); *R J Barrington (Hartpury College) - Morris (66); *J M Beaumont (Fylde) - Arnold (53); J S Miller (Bristol) - Navidi (60); *S Dusi (Gran Ducato di Parma) - Griffen (63); *J Botha (Hartpury College) - Hodgson (53) [* - new Barbarian]

J Reid; G Qasevakatini, P Nacamavuto, A Evans, J Drauniniu; J Prasad, D Pascoe (capt); C Budgen, G Evans, M W Lewis, D Ball, M Cormack, A Satala, J Kava, G Barden

Replacements: M L Dwyer - G Evans (52); K Dowding - Lewis (52); D Chambers - Kava (65); M A Lee - Satala (10); I Martin - Pascoe (67); W John - Drauniniu (50); J Martin - Qasevakatini (30)

 

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ENGLAND 35-26 BARBARIANS
TWICKENHAM – Sunday 30th May 2010
Attendance: 41,035

ENGLAND warmed up for their summer tour of Australasia with a well-earned victory, but Martin Johnson’s team was forced to withstand a strong second-half fight back from the invitational side.

It was a glorious day as the sun fell strongly over the East Stand spoilt only by the fact that the stadium was half empty.

England led 32-7 early in the second half, but were then pegged back to 32-26 before a late Olly Barkley penalty put the win beyond doubt.

The home side opened in determined and attacking fashion, taking an early 6-0 lead thank to two penalties from Sale Sharks fly-half Charlie Hodgson on his return to international rugby.

Their first try came in the 14th minute, when Stade Francais blind-side James Haskell picked the ball up 50 yards out and embarked upon a mazy, rampaging run which took the flanker all the way to the line. Hodgson duly added the conversion.

England added two more tries before half-time, sandwiched by one from the Baa-Baas.

Playing his first international match in English colours, Bath centre Shontayne Hape darted neatly through a gap in the visiting defence on 24 minutes, with Hodgson again converting.

Former England star Paul Sackey then pulled a try back for the Barbarians five minutes before the interval, with Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde adding the extra two points.

The home team hit straight back, extending their advantage as half-time approached with arguably the best move of the match.

Captain Nick Easter and hooker Steve Thompson both carried the ball forward under considerable pressure, freeing Northampton full-back Ben Foden, who scampered home in the left hand corner. Bath centre Barkley, on as a replacement for the injured Hodgson, put the tricky conversion attempt just wide of the right-hand post.

Martin Johnson’s side opened up a healthy 25-point gap six minutes into the second half when Gloucester centre Mike Tindall broke free from a crowd of bodies to score under the posts. Barkley converted.

That sparked something of a fight back from the Barbarians as their undoubted quality and expansive rugby shone through in the final half-hour.

New Zealander David Smith crossed the line on 58 minutes, after a long spell of visiting pressure and another replacement, Toulouse’s Samoan prop Census Johnson, did the same six minutes later.

Ellisalde converted the second try as well as another Baa-Baas try four minutes from time.

That came from a flowing move which created an overlap on the right, freeing Sackey for his second try of the match, but England held their nerve to close out the game with Barkley’s late penalty sealing victory.

England now head Down Under for two Test matches against the Wallabies, plus two tour games against the Australian Barbarians and one against the New Zealand Maori.

England
T: Haskell. Hape, Foden, Tindall
C: Hodgson 2, Barkley
P: Hodgson 2, Barkley

Barbarians
T:  Sackey 2, D Smith, Johnson
C: Ellisalde 3