Humiliated by 14 men
Pitiful England sink to heaviest defeat under Eddie... next up it’s the Aussies!
By THE end, it was beyond embarrassing for england. the sight of George Kruis back-heeling a conversion will have felt like humiliation for eddie Jones and his players.
the national team found themselves providing target practice for a barbarians side who spent more than half the match with 14 men after Will Skelton was sent off for a wild, inexcusable high tackle on Patrick Schickerling. It was a shameful episode for the Wallaby lock and it became a shameful episode for england too.
this was a record defeat against the barbarians. It was also the heaviest england defeat since Jones took charge at the end of 2015. the visitors scored eight tries and in the closing stages were making a mockery of their opponents with theatrical antics.
Jones spoke of how england had an unfamiliar look in certain positions, but they had plenty of test pedigree too. they were up against a multi-national squad thrown together at short notice, who had enjoyed the build-up in traditional fashion, starting in Monaco and moving on to london.
‘We played some fantastic rugby after a pretty social week,’ said Kruis, wryly, after his memorable farewell appearance which featured three conversions in all.
the beaten head coach described this occasion as ‘great preparation for australia’, but it is hard to see how it can be. Jones will name a tour squad this morning before england fly down under for a daunting three- match series against the Wallabies, starting in Perth on July 2. this was not a test, but there can be no doubt it is harmful nonetheless.
It was england’s third defeat in a row after they finished the annual championship with losses at the hands of Ireland and France. Jones will have wanted a win and a promising performance to create timely optimism, but it was another setback in a year of turmoil.
‘We need to get our tails up,’ said stand-in captain tom curry.
tackling that task will force the established england players and staff to confront a worrying sense of deja vu. It feels like 2018 all over again. that year, there were three defeats in the Six nations followed by a brutal ordeal at the hands of the barbarians — although not as emphatic as this one was. What followed were two further losses in South africa, before a siege-lifting victory in cape town.
So if there are omens from four years ago, there could be more pain ahead.
australia will take stock and believe that their next opponents are there for the taking. england will look very different in Perth, brisbane and Sydney, but they need to play differently too. and if they make as many mistakes, struggle in the scrum and succumb to so many defensive lapses, they will be in grave trouble.
alex dombrandt’s knee injury was the latest damaging medical bulletin which suggests england will fly south without another front-line figure. they had already come to terms with the absence of Manu tuilagi, Henry Slade and Kyle Sinckler from the tour.
northampton full back tommy Freeman’s assured debut and a popular return by danny care were the only upbeat aspects of a chastening day.
It wasn’t so for the barbarians, who honoured the memory of Phil bennett with their attacking audacity and brilliance, after the players formed a human no 10 in tribute to the Welsh wizard, who died the previous weekend.
this was a largely Gallic triumph which did so much to enhance the modern credibility of the famous old invitational club. Fabien Galthie and Shaun edwards were the masterminds — further reinforcing the fact that the angloFrench balance of power lies firmly on the other side of the channel.
charles Ollivon led with distinction, scoring an interception try while clermont auvergne wing damian Penaud was the electric executioner-in-chief.
care’s introduction off the bench, in place of Harry randall, gave
england some fresh impetus midway through the second half and a try by his Harlequins sidekick Marcus Smith brought the home side back to within 10 points at 21-31. but the 14 men roared out of sight, with nolann le Garrec’s creative class reinforcing the impression that France have more test-standard scrum-halves than the rest of the world combined.
In a way, that creates a selection problem for Galthie, as he prepares for a tour of Japan. Jones has very different, pressing problems. england will be on a downer as they head down under. BARBARIANS: Spring 8.5; Penaud 9, Vakatawa 6 (Vili 41, 6) (Lavault 53, 5), Botia 7 (Carbonel 64, 7.5), Niniashvili 7; Hastoy 8.5, Couilloud 7.5 (Le Garrec 53, 7.5); Baptise-Gros 6 (Priso 52, 6.5), Bougarit 7 (Tolofua 53, 7), Gigashvili 6.5 (Falatea 53, 7); KRUIS 9, Skelton 4; Ollivon 7.5 (Macalou 53, 8.5), Cretin 8, Tanga 8.
ENGLAND: Freeman 6.5; Cokanasiga 6 (Bailey 66, 5), Marchant 4.5 (Nowell 57, 5), Atkinson 4, May 6; Smith 6.5, Randall 3.5 (Care 45, 5); Rodd 5.5, Walker 6 (Singleton 56, 5), Collier 3 (Schickerling 28-36, 5), (Goodrick-Clarke 62, 5); Ewels 5, Hill 6; Curry 5, Chick 6 (Willis 45, 6), Underhill 5 (Lawes 52, 5).
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy) 6. Attendance: 51,385.