Rugby Friendly
Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham
Admission: £42.00
Programme: £6.00
Attendance: 51,385
Today I had a very rare experience of rugby, for my third ever visit to Twickenham. In honesty, it was not my choice to come to this game, but my partner wanted to take in her first ever rugby game, and in particular at the home of English rugby.
This game was arranged principally as a warm up for England to prepare for a three test tour to Australia in July. Since finishing as runners up in the 2019 World Cup and winning the Six Nations in 2020, the last couple of years have been rather poor by England’s standards, picking up just two wins and finishing in fifth place in the 2021 Six Nations, and while they again only picked up two wins in the 2022 Six Nations, they finished in third place. The Barbarians team invitational team today was formed mostly of French based players, with the sole exception being George Kruis, the 45 cap former England lock, for whom today would be his last game before retirement.
On an afternoon which was hot when the sun shone, but was mostly cloudy and cooler, the match started off fairly quietly, with no points at all scored in the opening quarter of an hour.
Marcus Smith then broke the deadlock with a penalty, but within a minute, Barbarians were awarded a penalty try following a deliberate knock on by Jonny May, and on 24 minutes, Barbarians added a try by Charles Olivion, converted by Antoine Hastoy. In the 34th minute, it started to look like the game might swing back towards England, when Smith scored another penalty, and Joe Cokanisaga scored a try two minutes later, to reduce the deficit to three points, and then Barbarians were reduced to 14 men when Will Skelton was shown a red card for a high tackle. But an early sign that this wouldn’t hinder the Barbarians too much came on 38 minutes, when Damien Pennaud scored another try, to leave the scoreline 11-19 at the break.
The second half continued as the first half ended, with Barbarians scoring another try by Batiste Couilloud, this one converted by George Kruis, to open up a 15 point lead for the Barbarians. May scored a try to reduce the arrears on 51 minutes, only for Pennaud to score another on 55 minutes, before England what turned out to be their last score of the match on the hour mark, Smith scoring a try, Then, Barbarians pulled away impressively, playing some really entertaining rugby..On 67 minutes, a lovely chip over the top by Nolann Le Gallec saw Louis Carbonel pounce first to score a try, converted by Hastoy, whilst the try of the match came on 73 minutes after England lost possession following a fumble as they approached the tryline, but in a devastating counter attack, Macoulu sprinted down the right wing before eventually passing to Le Garrec close to the half way line, and he surged forward before diagonally kicking the ball forward for Max Spring to run onto a ground the ball underneath the posts, converted by Kruis, who indulged in a backheeled conversion. And on 79 minutes, similar to the previous try, England lost possession in their attacking 22 when Jack Nowell dropped the ball, and a devastatingly lightning quick counter attack saw Penaud drive downfield before he was tackled, and the ball was taken on by David Niniashvili, his run including a forward roll, before passing the Le Garrec, and then finally to Hastoy, who grounded the ball underneath the posts. with Kruis again converting, with his team mates lining up around him and encouraging the crowd to clap him into taking the kick.
And so a convincing win for the Barbarians, and fully deserved it was too, as England, who admittedly were not at full strength, were left with a lot to ponder and to improve upon in the ecoming weeks.
Video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
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