Stuart Lancaster may have unearthed a few sparkling young diamonds in the Twickenham turf as his new boys shone brightly during England’s 40-12 demolition of the Barbarians on Sunday.
rugbyweek
The opposition may not have been up to the usual Baa-Baas standard, but England’s inexperienced team produced a thoroughly professional job and warmed up for their forthcoming tour to Argentina in style.
Tries from Freddie Burns, Marland Yarde, Kyle Eastmond, Christian Wade and Bill Twelvetrees thrilled the crowd – and had England head coach Lancaster wearing a broad smile and sense of satisfaction as he prepares to fly out with his squad on Wednesday to face a much more daunting challenge against the Pumas.
Burns, making the most of his chance at fly-half with Owen Farrell set to go with the British and Irish Lions to Australia and Toby Flood given the summer off to rest and recuperate, was also in impressive kicking form with 13 points.
It took just 40 seconds for England to race over their rivals line for the opening try.
In doing so, Gloucester fly-half Burns, who finished off the move after London Irish wing Yarde had broken free down the left flank, scored one of the quickest tries in Twickenham history and then converted his own try.
Burns’ first penalty a few minutes later increased the lead to 13-0 as the Barbarians took longer than usual to warm-up in the May sunshine.
England, led for the first time by Bath hooker Rob Webber and with an inexperienced side where nine of the starting fifteen for 24 or younger, maintained their dominance and pressure with the Barbarians’ defence desperately trying to stop the points leaking.
However, you sensed it was going to be a long, hot afternoon for rugby’s travelling entertainers, and Burns was at his accurate best in the first-half. He nailed a difficult kick straight through the middle of the posts for his second penalty.
The Baa-Baas hardly managed to pose a single threat on the England line in the opening 40 minutes with Dai Young’s team a looking a shadow of passed teams which have worn the famous black and white hooped jersey.
Yarde showed the kind of qualities he has been showing for Irish all season, pace, power and skilful running, to cut through the Baa-Baas defence for the second try just a few minutes after the break.
It was an impressive contribution from the 21-year-old wing, who could give head coach Lancaster a real selection headache for the November internationals if he performs well in Argentina.
Then it was time for another new boy to make his mark in the white jersey, with Eastmond taking just a few minutes of his England debut to cutting in from the right flank and race over the line.
Lancaster is hoping the former St Helen’s Rugby League man could develop into a Jason Robinson-like figure in his side.
And, being brought on at full-back to replace Mike Brown in the second-half, Eastmond showed Robinson type footwork and darting speed to leave his opponents grasping at thin air.
Gloucester centre Twelvetrees charged over for the home side’s fifth try while late scores from South African hooker Schalk Brits and London Wasps and England Saxons full-back Elliot Daly to salvage some late pride.
Final Score England (16) 40 / 12 (0) Barbarians:
Scorers
England
Tries : Burns, Yarde, Eastmond, Wade, Twelvetrees
Cons: Burns 3
Pens: Burns 3
Barbarians
Tries: Brits, Daly
Cons: Evans
Teams
England
Mike Brown; Christian Wade, Jonathan Joseph, Billy Twelvetrees, Marland Yarde; Freddie Burns, Richard Wigglesworth; Ben Morgan, Matt Kvesic, Tom Johnson; Dave Attwood, Joe Launchbury; David Wilson, Rob Webber (Capt), Alex Corbisiero
Replacements: David Paice, Joe Marler, Henry Thomas, Kearnan Myall, Billy Vunipola, Haydn Thomas, Jonny May, Kyle Eastmond
Barbarians
Elliot Daly (London Wasps); Timoci Nagusa (Montpellier, Fiji), Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz, United States), Casey Laulala (Munster, New Zealand), Mike Tindall (Capt, Gloucester, England); James Hook (Perpignan, Wales), Dwayne Peel (Sale, Wales); Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing Metro 92, Italy), Matthew Rees (Scarlets, Wales), James Johnston (Harlequins, Samoa), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester, Scotland), Marco Wentzel (London Wasps, South Africa), Alessandro Zanni (Treviso, Italy), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz, France), Jonathan Poff (London Wasps, New Zealand).
Replacements: Schalk Brits (Saracens, South Africa), Dean Mumm (Exeter, Australia), Duncan Jones (Ospreys, Wales), Sam Jones (London Wasps), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz, France), Nick Evans (Harlequins, New Zealand), Rowan Varty (DeA Tigers, Hong Kong).