Baabaas loss England’s fourth in row

LONDON: England’s preparations for its tour of South Africa suffered a setback as it lost 6345 to the Barbarians in a noncap match at Twickenham yesterday, its fourth loss in a row.

The host fielded a mixture of regular internationals and young players, but the inexperienced lineup was no match for the power of the Barbarians, who ran in nine tries in an entertaining game full of running rugby.

Winger Chris Ashton, who has 39 caps for England, grabbed a hattrick of tries for the Barbarians inside 25 minutes as they crossed the line five times in the first half.

Danny Cipriani made his return to the England side for the first time since 2015 when coming on as a 29thminute substitute, but he could not inspire an England fightback, leaving coach Eddie Jones with much to ponder ahead of the first test in

South Africa on June 9.

‘‘We weren’t good enough by a long way,’’ England first fiveeighth George Ford said after the match.

England was beaten 96 on the try count despite fielding seven regular starters, all of whom were involved in the Six Nations.

One of those regulars, Ford, actually denied Ashton a hattrick inside 10 minutes after catching his former teammate, but England still suffered early on.

The BaaBaas scored three unanswered tries inside 12 minutes, with additional conversions from Scotland’s Finn Russell, before

Elliot Daly and Piers Francis scored quickfire tries for England.

Francis scored another before the break, as did Bath youngster Zach Mercer, but the Barbarians stayed well on top.

England slowed the Barbarians’ scoring down in the second half, but scored just two more tries through Ben Launchbury and Jonny May, both converted by Ford, as they slumped to another defeat. — Reuters