Northern exodus has Baabaas sheepish
Rumours of the demise of Barbarians rugby may not be greatly exaggerated.
It’s a sad state of affairs when the most famous invitation club in all of rugby cannot get a single northern hemisphere player of note to turn out for a match against the All Blacks at the home of the English game.
That was a fact that certainly hadn’t escaped the All Blacks’ attention as they prepared for what was essentially a ‘‘local derby’’ against a Barbarians side packed with southern hemisphere players at Twickenham on Saturday (early Sunday NZT) in their tour opener.
And there was more than a hint of disappointment from the All Blacks camp about a match that has been billed as a northern celebration of 125 years of New Zealand rugby, but really might as well have been played back on the other side of the world.
The world’s No 1 side accepts that professional rugby has become a perverse game of essentially fitting square pegs into round holes with a calendar as crowded as the London Tube; but the All Blacks’ displeasure could not be masked when preparations for their tour curtain-raiser ramped up in London.
Robbie Deans and Scott Robertson will coach a more than capable looking Barbarians outfit that includes recent All Blacks in Julian Savea, Steven Luatua, Andy Ellis and Ben Franks, former Springboks skipper Adrian Strauss, two quality Aussies in Taqele Naiyaravoro and Sam Carter and a bunch of Kiwis, including a quintet who have been ring-fenced to join the New Zealanders to play against the French XV in Lyon on November 14.
But there are no British and Irish players at all, not a single Frenchman and just the one northern hemisphere player in the form of Italian Simone Favaro. The only individuals figuring in the match who ply their trade in the north are Favaro, Franks, Luatua and Gloucester South African Ruan Ackermann.
‘‘Clearly the concept has changed a bit, hasn’t it,’’ remarked All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster with an arched eyebrow. ‘‘It’s more like a local derby.
‘‘We’re looking forward to playing at Twickenham, even though we’re playing mostly guys we recognise. It would have been nice to have a few more UK players in the team against us, but it’s a great occasion.’’
The fact of the matter is that the
leading clubs of the north now simply refuse to release leading players for matches outside the agreed international three-week windows in November, which must put invitation outfits such as the Barbatrians in a tight spot.
Sure, there are no shortage of southern hemisphere-based players willing to jump at the reputed £10,000-a-week match fees on offer for appearing in these contests; but that does rather defeat the concept of the Baabaas representing a global view of the sport.
But Foster also emphasised the All Blacks’ focus this week was a lot more internal than external.
‘‘Do you remember Brisbane?’’ he said. ‘‘We’re coming off a pretty poor performance, so this is a chance for us to get a lot of things right. Our expectations are clear. Whilst it’s not a test match, it’s really important we step up from the last game we played.’’
Foster stopped short of labelling the match an All Blacks trial for 2019. But he did concede afterwards that they would probably take a close look at both sides for future reference.