Jacques Botes carried off the field on the shoulders of his Barbarians team mates

Jacques Botes getting ready to take the conversion of his own try.. to end off his career

Jacques Botes marked his final game with a try and conversion as the Barbarians dazzled to beat Leicester Tigers 59-26 in a 13-try feast on Tuesday.

The attendance at Welford Road was 11,169 – all who witnessed Springbok discard Juan de Jongh showing great sportsmanship to gift Botes the final try of the match in what was the veteran’s last game of a splendid career.

Both sides played some attractive, free-flowing rugby and the crowd lapped it up.

Despite a late first-half comeback by the Tigers, to close the gap from 0-21 to 19-21 at the break, the BaaBaas put on a display of fine entertainment to outscore the home team by nine tries to four in a game that marked the famous invitation club’s 125-year celebrations.

But the Barbarians showed their class in the second period and ran riot with their Super Rugby-led backline leading the way with a mixture of pace and power.

rugby365

The invitation club got off to an incredible start with three tries in the opening 12 minutes to open up a 21-0 lead.

Firstly, Frank Halai intercepted a bouncing ball intended for Miles Benjamin and fed Juan de Jongh at pace who ran in untouched.

On 10 minutes, prop Thomas du Toit rumbled over from close range and just 90 seconds later, Francis Saili made the most of loose ball to run and touch down under the posts before sharing a stylish dance routine with De Jongh.

Tigers had hardly gone through three phases by this stage and with injuries to Anthony Allen, Jamie Gibson and Jordan Crane, it looked like being a long match.

But Allen and Gibson returned to the fray after going off with cuts and the home side found their rhythm to run in three tries of their own before the half-time interval.

Freddie Burns, playing out of position at fullback, ran in the first, showing poise and balance to glide through the visitors’ defence and finish a try that had begun with Owen Williams break and offload in midfield.

Gibson ran in Tigers’ second on the half-hour mark after Niki Goneva had grabbed a bouncing ball to break through and feed the big flank.

4 November 2014. Barbarians beat Leicester Tigers by 59 / 26

Williams added the conversion to make it 14-21 and four minutes before the break, Christian Loamanu scored on his club debut after sitting down unfortunate fullback Tevita Li before diving over.

Williams missed the resulting conversion – his only error of a wonderful first-half showing – and the BaaBaas went in at the break with a two-point lead.

There was no further score in the opening 15 minutes of the second half as both sides cancelled each other out.

But the visitors let loose in a nine-minute spell between the 59th and the 68th minutes to run in three tries and put the result beyond doubt.

Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow scored their fourth try of the match, before Aussie wing Tom English made it 33-19.

On 67 minutes, Michael Rhodes barged over from close range after some lengthy pressure on the Tigers goal-line.

And on 70 minutes, the visitors made it seven tries as De Jongh scored his second try before Saili’s comedy conversion, a parody of Jonny Wilkinson’s kicking style, made it 47-19.

By now, there had been a raft of substitutions. Unfortunately for Leicester after some brutal hits had been going in all match, Crane looked like he might be a long-term casualty as he limped off and left the ground on crutches.

And one of those substitutions, loanee Paul Grant, at the club from Nottingham, got Tigers’ fourth try with six minutes left on the clock. Tommy Bell’s extras made it 47-26.

There was still time for Tiveta Li and Jacques Botes to score the visitors’ eighth and ninth tries of the match.

And, on his final game of a long and illustrious career, South African No.8 Botes converted his own try with the final kick of the game to great acclaim from his teammates.

Scorers:

Leicester Tigers:

• Tries: Freddie Burns (1), Jamie Gibson (1), Christian Loamanu (1), Paul Grant (1)
• Conversions: Owen Williams (2), Tommy Bell (1)

Barbarians:

• Tries: Juan de Jongh (2), Thomas du Toit (1), Francis Saili (1), Heinrich Brüssow (1), Tom English (1), Michael Rhodes (1), Tevita Li (1), Jacques Botes (1)
• Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (5), Francis Saili (1), Jacques Botes (1)

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Miles Benjamin, 13 Christian Loamanu, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 David Mele, 8 Jordan Crane (Captain), 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Laurence Pearce, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jake Farnworth, 1 Michele Rizzo
Replacements: 16 George Nairn, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Charlie Beckett, 20 Paul Grant, 21 George Tresidder, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Adam Thompstone

Barbarians: 15 Tevita Li, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Jacques Botes, 7 Heinrich Brüssow, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Al Kellock (Captain), 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Jason Marshall, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 Angus Ta’avao, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Matt Todd, 22 Adam Thomson, 23 Sarel Pretorius, 24 Sean Duke, 25 Tom English

Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Assistant Referees: Andy Watson (England), Simon Mcconnell (England)
TMO: David Sainsbury (England)