Three tries: Chris Ashton
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England wing Chris Ashton bagged a hat-trick to help his team to a record 57-26 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.
The hosts, who scored eight tries in all, produced a performance of intensity and ambition which ensures Stuart Lancaster's side can approach their tour to South Africa in good heart.
England showed a willingness to swing the ball wide at every opportunity, but will be disappointed to have conceded four tries to the Barbarians.
Lancaster's troops scored first when Ashton collected Lee Dickson's cleverly disguised inside pass to trot over under the posts in the 18th minute.
England lock Mouritz Botha - who was everywhere in a typically hardworking display - put his head down and charged for the corner on the half hour mark, only to be kept out by some brave Barbarians defending.
But the invitational side struck back three minutes later, with New Zealand's 100-Test cap full-back Mils Muliaina finishing classily after former England wing Iain Balshaw's chip ahead bounced into his path. Fellow Kiwi and 2011 Rugby World Cup hero Stephen Donald added the extras.
But England took control in the closing moments of the half.
First Dylan Hartley - on his return to action after an eight-week biting ban - scored after a clinical catch-and-drive line-out move. Ashton then scooted over for his second after Hartley's powerful break gave space for Farrell to deliver a simple scoring pass.
Ashton collected his hat-trick just five minutes after the break before Muliaina, who was superb in attack and defence, collected Casey Laulala's stunning offload to score in the corner.
As the game reached the hour mark, Christian Wade marked his debut with a try. The London Wasps flier looked dangerous with his pace throughout but the 21-year-old had the simple task of ambling over the line after captain Phil Dowson's perfectly timed pass.
The heat rose at Twickenham but the tries kept on coming, with former England captain Mike Tindall barging through two would-be tacklers after taking a quick tap penalty.
Then replacement scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth neatly sidestepped his way under the posts after Ashton raced clear down the right.
Jonathan Joseph became the second senior debutant to score, collecting Farrell's kick to take advantage of a gaping hole in the Barbarians defence, before replacement Raphael Lakafia grabbed a late consolation for the visitors. Joseph then added another at the death.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Ashton 3, Hartley, Joseph 2, Wade, Wigglesworth
Cons: Farrell 7
Pen: Farrell
For Barbarians:
Tries: Muliaina 2, Taele-Pavihi, Tindall
Cons: Contepomi, Donald 2
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Phil Dowson (c), 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Matt Stevens.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Joe Launchbury, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Jonathan Joseph, 22 Alex Goode.
Barbarians: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ian Balshaw, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 John Beattie, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Afoa, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements: 16 Benoit August, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Raphael Lakafia, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Felipe Contepomi, 22 Sailosi Tagicakibau.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
Hellovanite: Donald overhyped? I've never seen any praise other than being cool as 4th choice FH in the final to get the kick. That's hardly hype. He showed balls to take the ball of Wepu to kick it but it's just his 15 minutes of fame
Rude: " backs without Manu looked woeful". Not as woeful as Leicster backs with Manu.
ABlack: Youre right Donald is D team
James lives: I thought Botha was good until I realised most of the action from the man in the red skull cap was Johnson.
I thought this was an ideal game for Foden but as with 6 nations he didn't really step up, except for France. I think the time has come to give Brown the start. Joseph I'd start ahead of Manu. Farrell at 10, Barritt 12. Ashton, Palmer, Hartley and Botha all did enough and the rest are mid weekers. We need Easter for SAf. Happy to try Wade instead of Strettle (why did he leave Quinns!). We also need S Armitage; Fearns is not ready.
Given that Catt and Wilkinson are best mates and Hodgson is a bit off, and Flood injured... One more fly half injury and you heard it here first... If Tolon go out we might get two of them... Jonny Wilko to drop goal on the deciding 3rd test.
Posted 14:56 29th May 2012
Trader2 says...
Yes I know APV1 leaking 8 tries is inexcusable and with so much youth in that Baa Baa side dear oh dear.
Posted 23:13 28th May 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
A fun match, which you can't properly compare to test match rugby. I did enjoy seeing alot more off-the-ball strike play I think a few players worked harder to give the pivot more options. Not a great Ashton fan but he played really well in this regard.
Posted 13:45 28th May 2012
startledwombat says...
This English team has not broken with tradition in one crucial area, and that is in relation to the score.
As usual, it is able to be divided by 3.
Posted 12:37 28th May 2012
APV1 says...
@ BokAvenger - leaking 4 tries was't too good and Baa-Baa matches are always a little more free-flowing than a "typical" England test. I don't think the Boks will underestimate us and we shan't underestimate them. Roll on the tour, eh?!
@ Dafydd29 - don't be a berk. "...likely to be sent off..." Were they? Nope. Sam Warburton's red card springs to mind.
@ ABlack - so were England - missing so many through the AP Final and injury. I'm not sure how many would agree with your theory about who would make their test team either.
@ payve - Hear! Hear!
@ Trader2 - disgusted that we leaked 4 tries, which just shows how useful these fixtures are. They give us a chance to run out some youngsters and find out where our structural weakness are. Not surprised that the Baa-Baas, made up of so many SH players, leaked 8!! ;-)
Posted 10:45 28th May 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
no doubt that Wade is a huge prospect and the excitement was palpable in the stands when he got the ball. A bit flappy in defence (looking for about 2 too many intercepts) and needs to relax a little but definitely one to look out for.
Thought Botha was outstanding and my MoM.
One thing to mention to all of the armchair perfectionists, it was baking out there (my car registered 33 degrees when I got back) and sitting in the stands with no breeze you can only marvel that some players made the full 80 minutes. I think that we can forgive the odd defender for getting a little leaden-footed as the game wore on and the response to Muliaina's first try (Wade in two minds and a suspicion Muliaina was 5 yards ahead of Balshaw when he kicked it) was two almost immediately the other end.
Posted 10:26 28th May 2012
Ruggernaut says...
England sure is sending all the right messages over to South Africa. They are looking like a team that is not afraid to attack, unlike the English sides from the past which at most was very conservative. I cannot wait for the test series to start. This should be a cracker of a series!
Posted 10:18 28th May 2012
hellovanite says...
Agree with the poster that commented on Donald. Hell of a nice guy, but how he got to be an All Black is beyond me. So he kicked a penalty 20 mins out in a WC. Big deal there are loads of players that could have kicked that goal. He is an average player who occasionally displays some ability, if he was english he'd be the next Rob Andrew... Yes that's right massively over hyped!
Posted 09:47 28th May 2012
Jediboy says...
Overall I was quite pleased with this performance. Sure there were errors, but hopefully those will get less as time goes by. This was far from a first team and generally it was a good effort, with some young guys getting a run out and some valuable experience.
Another positive was Dowson. I thought he played very well. Solid and dependable. And he's a cool head who has great leadership qualities.
Posted 06:21 28th May 2012
jonesy2 says...
the only thing to look at ahead of the south africa tour is... four tries conceded...
Posted 05:25 28th May 2012
Trader2 says...
What and England team scoring 8 tries what is the matter with them, how dare they play like a Super 15 side, APV1 will be disgusted with them.
Posted 00:27 28th May 2012
payve says...
England scored more points than they ever have against the baa baas while under strength, the baa baas were not weak. Their front row was so dominant but with the experience there they should have been so fair play (experience in most places to be honest). The only 'weak looking' player was Donald in my opinion. Good result for England not perfect but good to shake off the cobwebs for many of them having not playing for a few weeks.
Posted 00:25 28th May 2012
ABlack says...
Baabaaas were a B or C team except for Muliaina, Afoa, Chisholm, Donald- the rest of them are has beens or wouldnt come close to making the top 8 countries test teams.
Posted 23:33 27th May 2012
DBRowan says...
@Dafyd: When was the last time Chris Ashton was carded? Hartley? Ashton got penalized for a hair pull on Alesana Tuilagi this year, but then so did O'Driscoll several years ago on George Smith I believe! Would you prefer England play players more like Bradley Davies, who dump players head over heels right in front of referees? Or Alan Wyn Jones, who cynically tripped Hartley in the England vs Wales fixture in 2011? Those kind of card liabilities?
------------------
I am not condoning the history of Ashton or Hartley. Both have previously displayed negative attitudes on/off the field, however I would not call either "card liabilities". The last time Ashton got carded that I can remember was when he got sent off for being punched by Manu Tuilagi. Why not attack a genuine penalty liability such as Stevens, who apparently does not know the rules of rugby when it comes to the breakdown?
Posted 22:37 27th May 2012
any1buttheABs says...
Ahhh.....daffyd29, still trolling I see, still waiting for you to front up with evidence of the Englands U20's dirty behaviour while in France !, seems that you keep running away, rather have Ashton and Hartley than a underhand troller like you !!!.
Wales have never had any disciplinary problems in their history have they.
Posted 20:44 27th May 2012
Dafydd29 says...
do not understand why England continue to field dirty players like Ashton and Hartley who are likely to be sent off - are they that desperate?
Posted 20:26 27th May 2012
jestnation says...
Great to see Wade and Joseph get on the score sheet. Very early days for both but they very much represent the future of England's attack.
I hear Dowson and Johnson played very well but any reports on Fearns?
Posted 19:39 27th May 2012
Rude_Dawg says...
hmmm..... england set piece all round seemed really weak and disorganised and the backs without Manu looked woeful for large portions of that game; need only look at the defence (lack thereof)
the margin was achieved by very loose play from a weak baabaa's side, rather than brilliant play by england. Though Ashton does have some pace on him.
Farrell is going to get eaten alive by the saffas, after this game they will target him. He really was exposed in this game, i am afraid, and that was brought about by a few hard hits and lack of support from surrounding players.
I honestly cannot think of any stand-out players from the england side that played today, perhaps Botha.
Posted 19:26 27th May 2012
lawynd says...
@olepete - England were without at least 8 starting players through injury and the AP Final the day before, and there were several first caps against players with far more experience, including a couple of World Cup winners. On the contrary, I'd say Stuart Lancaster would be reasonably satisfied with the result.
Posted 18:56 27th May 2012
Ulrich says...
Barbarians were always going to lose. Really "old" selection for them. England however did capitalise even with an under-strength team. Gives us Saffas some food for thought :) .
Posted 18:48 27th May 2012