Mixed-bag in Thorn's final hoorah
Bradley Carnegie Thorn brought the curtain down on a glittering career by scoring a try and being sin binned when the Barbarians suffered their worst-ever defeat as they were thrashed 73-12 by an England XV.
The All Black legend walked off with a wry smile after being carded for a tip tackle on England replacement prop Alex Waller but BaaBaas coach Robbie Deans feels it was not deserved.
"It was harsh on Brad [Thorn] because he certainly didn't deserve to finish such an illustrious career like that. He played very well," Deans said.
Having beaten Ireland two days earlier, Deans felt it was one challenge too many.
"Two games in four days isn't easy. Two games in four days against teams with
players chasing World Cup spots always has the potential to be very challenging.
"The England fringe players played well. Looking up at the half-time scoreboard was a surreal circumstance but I was proud of the way the boys arrested the game at the start of the second half because it was certainly looking pretty ugly.
"We were consistent with our philosophy, kept throwing the ball around, attacking and giving everyone a run out.
"I was pleased with that response, we've won one international this week but not two. It was all about momentum. We were competitive early but then went down to 14 men and England got on the front foot and scored a lot of points," he added.
England head coach Lancaster singled out Danny Cipriani and Christian Wade for their performances and believes their World Cup prospects have been enhanced.
"A lot of the boys have enhanced their prospects with the way they have handled themselves this week and their performances.
"Danny kicked 11 out of 11, which is excellent. He has learned discipline from Sale and understands the mechanics of playing at flyhalf and improved himself.
"Christian Wade took his chance well. He is electric in open field and he is so difficult to stop when he gets going.
"We've now had two wins at the end of the season including the French game. Overall we have made good progress and we will now even more progress once the guys come into camp on June 22. We will take 45 players to Denver for the altitude training," Lancaster said.
AFP
