Fourteen-man Baabaas humiliate England at Twickenham
MATCH REPORT: England’s international season got off to a horrendous start, suffering a humiliating 21-52 defeat to the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.
A slow start from both sides saw an Antoine Hastoy penalty attempt sail wide inside the opening minutes, as Eddie Jones’ men showed their attacking intent, spearheaded by Marcus Smith.
First, the flyhalf spotted a gap in the Barbarian defence and put Jonny Hill through it, before finding Joe Marchant out wide with a well-weighted cross-field kick moments later.
Joe Cokanasiga showcased his explosive power by surging deep into Barbarian territory and linking up with Harry Randall, though the scrumhalf was brought down before he could make a try-scoring pass.
Frustrated, when presented with a penalty, Smith opted for posts and duly converted the three-pointer on the 16-minute mark to claim the game’s first points.
That seemed to ignite the visitors, who responded immediately. They were awarded a penalty try due to a deliberate knock-on from England wing Jonny May, who was shown a yellow card, and Charles Ollivon grabbed their second score moments later to make it 3-14.
Another Smith penalty reduced the deficit to eight points, before the Quin showed world-class skill with half-hour on the clock, offloading under pressure into the path of the onrushing Tommy Freeman who then unleashed Cokanasiga down the right wing and over the try line to make it 11-14.
With just minutes remaining in the first half, Will Skelton was shown a red card for a high tackle, and Damian Penaud scored an opportunistic try to give Fabien Galthie’s men another eight-point cushion.
The Barbarians started the second half how they ended the first, with a try, via scrumhalf Batiste Couilloud. Former England second row George Kruis added the extras from in front of the posts to make it 11-26.
Undeterred, England answered on 50 minutes, through a May score. Quick ball from replacement Danny Care to Mark Atkinson allowed for a neat wrap around with Smith, before the Quin floated a pass over the head of Barbarian fullback Max Spring to May who cut inside and over the whitewash. Smith missed the conversion.
Penaud bagged his second try of the match moments before Smith claimed his first – on the hour mark – though England’s comeback was short lived, as replacement Louis Carbonel scrambled over for the visitor’s sixth try, Spring their seventh, and Hastoy their eighth – making it 21-52 at full time.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Cokanasiga, May, Smith
Pens: Smith 2
For Barbarians:
Tries: Penalty try, Ollivon, Penaud 2, Couilloud, Carbonel, Spring, Hastoy
Cons: Hastoy 3, Kruis 3
England: 15 Tommy Freeman, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry (Captain), 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacement: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Danny Care, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jack Nowell.
Barbarians: 15 Max Spring, 14 Damien Penaud, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Tani Vili, 11 Davit Niniashvili, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Batiste Couilloud, 8 Charles Ollivon (Captain), 7 Levani Botia, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Will Skelton, 4 George Kruis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros,
Replacements: 16 Danny Priso, 17 Christopher Tolofua, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Thomas Lavault, 20 Yoan Tanga, 21 Nolann Le Garrec, 22 Louis Carbonel, 23 Sekou Macalou, 24 Thomas Laclayat.
Referee: Andrew Piardi
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson, Gianluca Gnecchi
TMO: Ben Whitehouse
There’s taking the piss and then there’s this!! 👇🏼
pic.twitter.com/bG2fXO9T6o— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) June 19, 2022
