England beaten by Barbarians at Twickenham
England were beaten 21-52 by a star-studded Barbarians outfit at Twickenham.
A slow start from both sides saw a Antoine Hastoy penalty attempt sail wide inside the opening minutes, as Eddie Jones' men showed their attacking intent, spearheaded by Marcus Smith. First, the fly half spotted a gap in the Barbarian defence and put Jonny Hill through it, before finding Joe Marchant out wide with a well-weighted cross field kick moments later.
Joe Cokanasiga showcased his explosive power by surging deep into Barbarian territory and linking up with Harry Randall, though the scrum half was brought down before he could make a try-scoring pass. Frustrated, when presented with a penalty, Smith opted for posts and duly converted the three pointer on the 16-minute mark to claim the game's first points.
That seemed to ignite the visitors, who responded immediately. They were awarded a penalty try due to a deliberate knock on from England wing Jonny May, who was shown a yellow card, and Charles Ollivon grabbed their second score moments later to make it 3-14.
Another Smith penalty reduced the deficit to eight points, before the Quin showed world class skill with half hour on the clock, offloading under pressure into the path of the onrushing Tommy Freeman who then unleashed Cokanasiga down the right wing and over the try line to make it 11-14.
With just minutes remaining in the first half, Will Skelton was shown a red card for a high tackle, and Damian Penaud scored an opportunistic try to give Fabien Galthie's men another eight point cushion.
The Barbarians started the second half how they ended the first, with a try, via scrum half Batiste Couilloud. Former England second row George Kruis added the extras from in front of the posts to make it 11-26.
Undeterred, England answered on 50 minutes, through a May score. Quick ball from replacement Danny Care to Mark Atkinson allowed for a neat wrap around with Smith, before the Quin floated a pass over the head of Barbarian full back Max Spring to May who cut inside and over the whitewash. Smith missed the conversion.
Penaud bagged his second try of the match moments before Smith claimed his first - on the hour mark - though England's comeback was short lived, as replacement Louis Carbonel scrambled over for the visitor's sixth try, Spring their seventh, and Hastoy their eighth - making it 21-52 at full time.
Teams
England
15. Tommy Freeman, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Jonny May, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Harry Randall, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Will Collier, 4. Charlie Ewels, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry (C), 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Callum Chick.
Finishers
16. Jack Singleton, 17. Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18. Patrick Schickerling, 19. Courtney Lawes, 20. Jack Willis, 21. Danny Care, 22. Orlando Bailey, 23. Jack Nowell.
Barbarians
15. Max Spring, 14. Damien Penaud, 13. Virimi Vakatawa, 12. Tani Vili, 11. Davit Niniashvili, 10. Antoine Hastoy, 9. Batiste Couilloud, 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2. Pierre Bourgarit, 3. Trevor Nyakane, 4. George Kruis, 5. Will Skelton, 6. Dylan Cretin, 7. Levani Botia, 8. Charles Ollivon (C).
Replacements
16. Danny Priso, 17. Christopher Tolofua, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Thomas Lavault, 20. Yoan Tanga, 21. Nolann Le Garrec, 22. Louis Carbonel, 23. Sekou Macalou, 24. Thomas Laclayat.
