England scored eight tries on their way to a 54-26 victory over a determined South African Barbarians team in Kimberley on Wednesady.

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It was effectively an England 2nd XV up against players from the southern section of the provincial first division in South Africa, so coach Jimmy Stonehouse’s team were always going to struggle to match up to the visitors who were mostly drawn from top sides in the premiership.

In true Barbarians style the hosts refused an early opportunity to kick at goal, and their attacking endeavour was rewarded when No.8 Jacques Engelbrecht crashed over from a driving maul from the attacking line-out to give them a 7-0 lead.

England responded by charging into opposition territory, and they were able to get on the scoreboard when flyhalf Charlie Hodgson landed two penalties in quick succession to make it 7-6.

Although the Barbarians were doing their best to take the game to the visitors, England were getting over the gainline regularly and they managed to make it count when big No.8 Thomas Waldrom bashed his way over a couple of defenders for their first try.

With their noses in front for the first time England pressed their advantage home through a deft grubber from scrumhalf Danny Care which sat up for the lightning fast Christian Wade.

The left wing toed ahead before collecting to go over for the second try which stretched his team’s advantage to 18-7.

With the floodgates open a well-worked set backline move sent right wing George Lowe, who started as a late replacement for David Strettle, over under the poles for a simple try.

Despite the three-try blitz the BaaBaas showed good fighting spirit to work themselves into a good attacking position again, shunning the opportunity to kick for goal and instead choosing to force England to tackle repeatedly in their own 22.

Showing good ball control and patience on attack the home side kept bashing away, and once England flank James Haskell was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements they were able to take advantage.

After taking it through multiple phases in the 22 the BaaBaas eventually made the extra man count when hooker Hannes Franklin forced his way over for the try, and the conversion from flyhalf Elgar Watts reduced the deficit to 25-14 which is how it stayed until the half-time break.

The English scrum held a clear upper hand throughout the match and they made that dominance count again when Waldrom barged over for the first try of the second half after overpowering diminuitive BaaBaas scrumhalf Boela Abrahams.

If England were using their structure and power to their advantage then the Barbarians were thriving in broken play, which they underlined by hitting back with a try to Norman Nelson.

The experienced wing picked up a loose ball in the 22 and charged through a gap on the inside to make it 30-21.

England were clearly miffed at that lapse in concentration on defence, and they struck back by putting it down the hands until it reached big lock Graham Kitchener who thundered over for their fifth try.

Despite their obvious defensive frailties the BaaBaas looked threatening on attack, and they stretched England out wide once more as their strike runners exploited a few gaps, but it ended in heartbreak when the ball was intercepted and given to Wade who pinned his ears back to cruise over for his second try.

However, the BaaBaas were intent on showing that they can counter-attack as well, and they swung it wide in the 22, creating an overlap for replacement Ntabeni Dukisa to race away for their fourth try which made it 42-26.

England reverted to their strength up front as they sought to end the match on a positive note, and after an attacking maul came up short of the line they sent it to the backline and Care was able to scramble over under the poles before Wade put the icing on the cake with a try in the final movement of the match.

Man of the match: England No.8 Thomas Waldrom carried the ball well and flying wing Christian Wade showed his finishing abilities by grabbing a hat-trick but the most impressive player was scrumhalf Danny Care who provided crisp service and looked a threat every time he touched the ball.

The scorers:

For SA Barbarians (South):
Tries: Engelbrecht, Franklin, Nelson, Dukisa
Cons: Watts 3

For England:
Tries: Waldrom 2, Wade 3, Lowe, Kitchener, Care
Cons: Hodgson 4
Pens: Hodgson 2

Yellow card: James Haskell (35 mins – repeated infringements)

Teams:

SA Barbarians (South): 15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Kempie Rautenbach, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 Norman Nelson, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Shaun Raubenheimer, 6 Mpho Mbiyozo, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Nolan Clark, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Clemen Lewis, 17 Dean Hopp, 18 Samora Fihlani, 19 Zandré Jordaan, 20 Ntando Kebe, 21 Ricardo Croy, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa.

England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 George Lowe, 13 Anthony Allen, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 James Haskell, 5 George Robson (captain), 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Phil Dowson, 22 Nick Abendanon.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Lesego Legoete (South Africa)
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee (South Africa)