Baa-baas hold off England revival

Saracens-bound Shalk Britz inspired the Barbarians to a superb display of running rugby, as the invitation side held off a late revival from Martin Johnson’s England in the Twickenham sunshine to secure a 33-26 win.

Although the South African didn’t score himself, he was a constant source of energy and played some part in all five of the visitor’s tries, two of which were scored by winger Iain Balshaw – one of many English players heading to France over the summer.

England rallied to score two tries in the last ten minutes, but it wasn’t enough to repair the damage that the Baa-baas inflicted immediately after the interval, when they bagged three quick scores of their own.

Starting the second half with a 14-5 lead, the Black and Whites wasted no time in extending it with a try from blockbusting Australian back rower, Rocky Elsom.

Full back Ben Blair broke the English line with a superbly angled run and fed the giant Leinster man, who cut inside Ben Foden to sprint in from 22 metres out.

Four minutes later the visitors scored again. Irish centre Gordon D’Arcy wriggled his way through the English defence and almost made it to the line himself, but a Britz-led support line worked the ball out to Balshaw, who strolled over unopposed.

D’Arcy did manage to score five minutes later, after the retiring Josh Lewsey showed what English rugby will be missing with a lightning-fast break before slipping the ball inside for the Irishman to sprint under the posts.

Britz came agonisingly close to getting the try his tireless performance merited, when he intercepted a pass and sprinted the length of the pitch, only for a superb tackle from Delon Armitage to keep him out.

England did hit back with a debut try for Premiership Young Player of the Year Jordan Turner-Hall, who got on the end of an Andy Goode chip to touchdown, but at that point any fightback looked unlikely.

Martin Johnson’s men had been second best throughout the match, with the Baa-baas opening the scoring after a quarter of an hour through Balshaw.

The visitors comfortably shifted the ball through a number of phases, before the retiring Josh Lewsey proved that, while your pace may deteriorate, class is permanent with a perfect grubber kick that Balshaw gathered up and finished off with an easy run in.

England tried to hit back straight away with promising attacks from Jamie Noon, Armitage and Goode, but the Baa-baas defence held firm, and Martin Johnson’s side soon found themselves back under their own posts, mainly due to a sublime break from the other retiree, Martin Corry.

The former England skipper burst through the hosts’ defence with pace that made a mockery of his age, and despite being stopped in his tracks, the Baa-baas got quick possession through Justin Marshall, and the ball easily found its way to Chris jack who touched down in the corner.

The home side looked suitably shaken, and made a number of unforced errors that allowed the Baa-baas to dictate the match, however, they did manage to put some points on the board as half time approached with a try from Northampton Saints’ Ben Foden.

After Lewis Moody disrupted a Baa-baas lineout, England maintained possession, keeping the ball alive with some impressive handling. Danny Care then spotted an overlap and sent a looping pass out to Chris Robshaw, who was hogging the right touchline.

The Premiership player of the season drew Blair into committing to the tackle, before slipping a pass to Foden who touched down for his first England try.

Despite Turner-Hall’s try, England failed to look any real threat until the closing stages, when their revival was sparked with a try from huge winger Matt Banahan.

Goode sent over a well flighted cross-field kick, and the Bath man out-jumped New Zealand’s Doug Howlett to catch and score.

Two minutes later Goode again created an England try, kicking through for substitute Tom May to touchdown under the posts, setting up a frantic last few minutes.

England tried to find another score to level the tie, but the Baa-baas held them off, and in truth the home side’s performance did not deserve to end in anything other than a defeat.

Johnson now faces a week of tough decisions ahead of next weekend’s test against Argentina at Old Trafford, which is likely to be another bruising encounter.

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