Before the main event we were treated to the County Championship Shield and Cup finals between Cornwall and Northumberland ( Northumberland winning) and Devon and Yorkshire (Yorkshire winning) respectively which were both quite entertaining matches. In particular the Cornwall support was strong and fun including a drum band from Falmouth! I’ve never watched county rugby before and not sure how it’s organised or where Hertfordshire stands perhaps someone could write a summer article on it to educate those of us in the dark and maybe gain a few more supporters!

So on to the main event. On paper it looked as if the England team should be very focused with 12 of the tour party heading to New Zealand the rest being made up of Saxons. There were no players form Wasps or Tigers following their exploits in the GP final or Bath after their Euro exploits but there were plenty of players with something to prove including Nick Lloyd starting at tighthead from the MiB.

The Barbarians team were still smarting from the mauling they received from Ireland on Tuesday night and had made a number of changes. They included the usual smattering of stellar names Larkham, Turinui, Collins, Harrison with a decent bunch of other internationals and players such as Gareth Thomas, Pedrie Wannenburg, Mark Regan and of course the MiB duo of Chesney and Visage starting with Glen Jackson on the bench.

So the match started and the entertainment stopped until the Mexican wave started early in the second half! It was clear that from the start that the BaaBaas were going to be very competitive at the breakdown to try and stop a repeat of Tuesday night and the back row of Molitika, Collins and Wannenburg were well equipped for this. Also there was a distinct niggle in the air not really surprising with the likes of Regan, Harrison, Pucciariello playing and there was a bout of handbags in the first 5 minutes which effectively continued all match. You could tell the Sarries supporters in the crowd by the initial gasps and then laughter as Ches acted peacemaker! God knows how Bath will keep 15 on the pitch if they ever play Harrison and Grewcock together!

The actual rugby was of very poor quality with neither side appearing to be able to hold onto the ball and constantly infringing with the ref’s whistle becoming a common feature. Within the first 3 minutes the BaaBaas had a pop at goal but it appeared Dai Young had forgotten to pick a kicker as neither the fly half, Larkham or the full back Delport being place kickers so up stepped Andy Gomarsall who promptly missed a sitter from 35 yards! Toby Flood made no such mistake a few minutes later following one of the few cohesive moves by the English backs all match with a great break by Tait.

Five minutes later pressure by the English forwards resulted in Nick Easter driving over from close range with Flood converting to give England a 10-0 lead.

The match seemed to be being played between the 22s with constant errors. The Baabaas were unable to win their own lineout but were dominant in the scrum rather worryingly for England with Cobus giving poor old Nick Lloyd a master class on his England debut. On the half hour mark the Ref sin binned Ma’ama Molitika but England were unable to capitalise despite some intense pressure on the BaaBaas line. Unfortunately during the period Charlie Hodgson was taken off following an accidental clash of heads with Jerry Collins for a cut to his face.

The second half was a similar affair to the first with play going across the pitch, balls being dropped and the ref’s whistle, it appeared mainly against the BaaBaas! On the 50 minute mark Seilala Mapusua intercepted a poor Chris Jones pass to run in from the half way line to bring the BaaBaas back into the match. Gomarsall adding the conversion.

Flood had been forced off following a clash with Wannenburg and Peter Richards was brought on showing the problems England have made for themselves at 10. It’s ok if your 12 can play at 10 but if you don’t have a similar player on the bench you can be in trouble! Gareth Thomas was sin binned though he looked fairly bemused. Brown took over the kicking duties and missed one but shortly afterwards an innocuous England attack in the BaaBaas 22 with the crowd waiting for the dropped ball, offside etc brightened the afternoon when Tait slipped his tackler and scooted over. England breathed a sigh of relief and extended the lead to 17 – 7.

For the last 15 minutes the BaaBaas seemed to get their act together a bit more and pressed England back. Balshaw looked effective and left Brown for dead several times. With minutes to go a superb text book move resulted in Gareth Thomas gliding over. Glen now on passed to the centre and did his trademark run around but the full back and left wing had also lined up in a box formation and started running with the centre holding the ball before passing to Alfie who went over untouched. I don’t think England had a clue what was happening until Alfie touched the ball down. Take note please Eddie.

There was time for one more play which the BaaBaas gamely tried to run back but after a couple of phases ended in a knock on surprise surprise the final whistle bringing relief to England. Mapusua was given man of the match and I had no complaint as he’d hammered the England back line all afternoon. I think the man of match decision summed up the match being given not to an English player and to the losing team!

It was a very poor match and poor return for the punters! I believe from the postings Will Greenwood described the match as garbage and I wouldn’t disagree. The Baabaas tried to run the ball at almost every occasion they had to they couldn’t win a lineout but constantly dropped the ball, lost in contact etc. I believe if they could have held the ball they would have been out of sight of this strangely lacklustre England team.

Much has been made as to whether the Barbarians are a viable outfit in the modern game. A closer look at Sundays team showed an average age of 32 and with the home nations and several of the A teams going on tour, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina receiving tours and the French league still not finished they had a small pool to pick from. It had been interesting to hear Jerry Collins speak on Tuesday of the pride of being invited to play for the BaaBaas and he was very good on Sunday. I understand Graham Henry dropped him on form but I’d happily see him turn out for the Men in Black which unfortunately can’t happen I believe Munster are favourites! It should also be remembered that the BaaBaas beat England and South Africa last summer so I wouldn’t be too quick to write them off!

England, well their performance beggared belief. They should have been able to murder a side who played 20 minutes with 14 men and couldn’t win a line out! Apparently Squeaky complained that the BaaBaas were too streetwise and ruined the game! Oh dear so Richie McCaw, Rodney Solialo and Jerome Kaino aren’t going to be competitive then! You have to wonder what the bloke’s on sometimes! Kennedy and Jones were good in the lineout but they didn’t have much competition with neither Harrison nor Wannenburg jumping effectively leaving Ches as an exposed target. They were pretty anonymous in the loose. Hodgson looked ok for his 35 mins and Care looked better than Wrigglesworth in second half. The odd break apart the BaaBaas centres had the taking of Flood and Tait. I was told that England played 2 wings Strettle and Ojo not sure I saw them with the ball! Question is was that the centres fault, was Tait looking to make a name or not? I’d also say that they didn’t seem to come looking for work in the way Thomas and Balshaw did for the Baabaas.

Finally an end of term report for the Men in Black on show. Poor Nick Lloyd got slaughtered by Cobus who was dominant at scrum time, oh I hope he wants to play a few first half’s next season before Census takes over! Ches held his own and Glen looked good for his 20 minutes very direct, playing flat, decent defence and a hand in the stand out try. Mike Brown didn’t look anywhere near Del’s class!