LONDON, 1 June 2004 — Clive Woodward’s experimental England XV were given a rugby lesson by a vastly experienced Barbarians team on Sunday when the invitation side posted an emphatic 32-12 victory in a non-cap international at Twickenham.
The next generation of England hopefuls did little to enhance their chances of an early promotion to the full squad as they produced a disjointed, flat performance lacking ambition and were outscored five tries to nil.
The Barbarians approached the game with the ideal combination of attacking adventure and basic work up front and fully deserved their success.
The game got off to a fairy tale start when Jason Leonard, who managed just one try in his 114 games for England, rumbled over the line in the fourth minute for a memorable score in his farewell international.
The Barbarians added a second minutes later as England duo Michael Horak and Nick Walsh made a hash of covering a Brian O’Driscoll kick and Irish winger Shane Horgan pounced. Bruce Reihana, this season’s players’ player of the year in England, added the third after half an hour from a neat inside pass by David Humphreys as the Barbarians provided the tries their tradition demands.
England, their lineout misfiring badly, were hesitant all over the pitch and were only able to stay in touch at 20-12 down at the break thanks to four sweetly-struck penalties by flyhalf Dave Walder.
Former Springbok captain Bobby Skinstad joined the fray for the second half and within four minutes was back on the sidelines thanks to a yellow card.
England though were unable to take advantage, Walder missing his first kick at goal and then throwing the ball straight into the hands of Skinstad who eased between the posts within seconds of his return from the sin bin.
