Barbarians maul England in 15-try thriller
Eddie Jones' under-strength side succumbed to a fourth successive defeat thanks to Toulon star Ashton's impressice display at Twickenham.
Ashton, 31, was making his first appearance against the nation he won 39 caps for until departing for France last year.
He seized the opportunity to remind Jones of his class with three tries rounded off with his celebratory 'Ash Splash'.
What a moment 🔥🤩👌#rugby #rugbyunited #ENGvBAR 🏉 pic.twitter.com/hK1lENBnAG
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) May 27, 2018
England were outscored 9-6 on the try count despite fielding seven regular Test starters, all of whom were involved in the Six Nations, and having been in camp for two weeks.
It was a painful afternoon for Jones as he looked to step up England's preparations for next month's tour to South Africa.
The experiment of playing Elliot Daly at full-back worked until Henry Trinder's concussion-enforced exit forced him to slot in at outside centre.
Jones used Mike Brown on the left wing to see if the Harlequins full-back can cover multiple positions at the World Cup and by the third minute he had his answer.
Josua Tuisova showed Brown a clean pair of heels to tee up Ashton for an extravagant finish and soon after the wing was over for his second after gathering Finn Russell's chip.
England were struggling and Victor Vito capitalised by spinning over from close range.
Daly stemmed the flow after an overlap was exploited and the frantic pace continued when hooker Jack Singleton charged through a hole before feeding Piers Francis the scoring pass.
Ashton's hat-trick arrived in the 25th minute, slick passing and movement providing the chance, before a slippery run from Daly ended when Zach Mercer crossed.
The score was levelled at the half-hour mark when George Ford released Francis to score before Ashton raced through a gap to send Russell over.
A weak tackle from Chris Robshaw waved Semi Radradra over for the Barbarians' sixth try, but a penalty by Ford and a Joe Launchbury try from close range reduced the gap between the rivals to four points.
Sitaleki Timani crossed over before Greig Laidlaw popped up on the right wing to put the result beyond doubt.
In an action-packed finale, there was still time for a try from Jonny May and a second for Vito.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Daly, Francis 2, Mercer, Launchbury, May
Cons: Ford 6
Pen: Ford
For Barbarians:
Tries: Ashton 3, Vito 2, Russell, Radradra, Timani, Tuisova
Cons: Russell 7, Lobbe
Teams:
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Mike Brown, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Nick Schonert, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Denny Solomona.
Barbarians: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Niyi Adeolokun, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 John Afoa, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Loni Uhila, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Nili Latu, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Luke McAlister, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Agence France-Presse
