England could not get going in attack and were lacklustre in defence in a 52-21 hammering by Barbarians at Twickenham
England, on the other hand, were woeful but for the efforts of Marcus Smith who shimmered in glimpses with the ball in hand but struggled from the tee. They simply could not get going in attack, were lacklustre in defence and their set-piece needs plenty of work.
The Barbarians gave a clear message of their intent when winning a scrum penalty inside the opening few minutes and opting to kick for goal. Antoine Hastoy missed the kick but evidently Fabien Galthié, with France’s forthcoming tour in mind, had not instructed his players to attempt exhibition rugby from the word go. The crowd were not happy but as the match progressed the Barbarians were entertaining and effective in equal measure.
Up to that point Smith had done his best to spark England into life, before being hampered by injury, Cokanasiga looked dangerous on the rare occasion he backed himself to take defenders on – injury problems and a torrid season at Bath have seemingly knocked his confidence – but that aside, England appeared bereft of ideas.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
England v Barbarians: rugby union – live!England warm up for their three-Test tour of Australia by hosting the Barbarians at Twickenham. Join Luke McLaughlin
Read more »
England tune up for Women’s World Cup with assured victory over FranceEngland Women continued their preparation for the World Cup in impressive fashion with a 36-10 win over France
Read more »
England’s display of batting power in keeping with cricket’s summer of runs | Tanya AldredAcross all formats, big scoring has been a theme – one likely to continue in the second ODI in the Netherlands on Sunday
Read more »
Eight of Sydney’s under-appreciated up-and-coming suburbsThere’s much more to our city than what we see on postcards. These eight booming areas of Sydney are set to get even better.
Read more »
Netherlands v England: second ODI – live!England take on the Dutch in the second of three ODIs. Follow over-by-over updates here
Read more »