Uninspiring England survive scare to beat Barbarians

Matthew Tait scored the second try for an experimental England side

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Sunday, 01, Jun 2008 09:03

England warmed up for this month's tour of New Zealand with a 17-14 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham.

Nick Easter and Matthew Tait touched down for the home side, while Seilala Mapusua and Gareth Thomas crossed the line for the Baa-Baas.

Nick Easter led an experimental side that included a new front row of Nick Lloyd, David Paice and Jason Hobson.

Charlie Hodgson started at fly-half while London Irish lock Nick Kennedy, Harlequins flanker Will Skinner, and London Irish wing Topsy Ojo made their England debuts.

Bristol hooker Mark Regan captained the Barbarians, while Iain Balshaw, Andy Gomarsall and ex-Wales captain Gareth Thomas started.

Hodgson looking to stake claim in the absence of Jonny Wilkinson and Danny Cipriani gave the home side the lead with a penalty on six minutes.

England increased their lead nine minutes later when Ojo waltzed past a couple of defenders with skipper Easter bundled the ball over the line, with Toby Flood adding the extras.

But the rest of the first-half petered out into a dull affair, with England failed to unlock the Baa-Baas defence.

Hodgson suffered a clash of heads in the closing stages of the half but was able to continue as England took a 10-0 lead into the break.

The visitors put themselves back into the game on 50 minutes with a breakaway try from Mapusua, with Gomarsall slotting over the extras.

But England staved off the threat of an upset with a rare moment of quality on 64 minutes. Matthew Tait beat Mapusua and Stephen Larkham before touching down under the posts.

The Barbarians set-up a grandstand finish when Thomas finished off a sweeping move to score. But England held on in the closing minutes to seal victory, but there will need to be a vast improvement when they face New Zealand on June 14th.