VIDEO: Jones explains why England got smashed
With Saracens and Exeter Chiefs contesting the Premiership Final the day before, England were missing a host of stars for the BaaBaas clash. However, the big defeat was still seen as a surprise too many.
"It felt like we were playing one-day cricket," Jones told reporters after the match. "We struggled in the first 20 minutes to adjust to the speed of the game and we got a bit shocked by it.
"I thought we adjusted well and we got ourselves back into the game. We played some good rugby, but then we got fatigued in the last 20 minutes and made some crucial errors in execution which ended up costing us the game. But as an experience for a number of the young players, it was absolutely outstanding."
Jones added: "You have to look at what the game is – we don't have our top 15 players, we have another 22 players unavailable. It was a test of our depth.
"We played against a very good, fast and powerful Barbarians team and at times we struggled to cope with them, but at the same time I am impressed with a number of the young players we had.
"I think Piers Francis played his best game I've seen since Argentina. Tom Curry has not played Test rugby for a long time and I thought he came back and did some good things."
Chris Ashton made a statement in front of Jones by scoring a hat-trick of tries for the Barbarians in the win.
Despite being ineligible for international duty while playing for Toulon, Ashton was open in the days leading up to the match about his desire to play for his country again.
The wing, who won his last England cap came in 2014, broke the Top 14 try-scoring record in his first season in France and he continued that prolific form by crossing three times on home soil.
Ashton got his first with a trademark dive in the third minute when Toulon teammate Josua Tuisova handed him the ball on the line, and he quickly made it two by getting on the end of his own chip over Elliot Daly.
He completed his hat-trick as early as the 25th minute, Finn Russell gathering Victor Vito’s stunning offload to set up the former Saracens player as the Barbarians ran riot.
Vito touched down twice, while Russell, Tuisova, Semi Radradra, Sitaleki Timani and Greig Laidlaw also crossed for the brilliant BaaBaas.
Daly, Piers Francis (2), Zach Mercer, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May managed tries for England – who have now lost four games on the spin – in a high-scoring contest.
Next up for Jones’ squad is a three-Test tour of South Africa, starting with the series opener in Johannesburg on June 9.
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