England player ratings vs Barbarians
Twenty-four hours on from a pulsating Gallagher Premiership final and immediately following a resounding win for England women over the Barbarians, Twickenham played host on Saturday afternoon to the England and Barbarians men’s sides.
A youthful and inexperienced England team, under the stewardship of U18 head coach Jim Mallinder, came out on top in an end-to-end game with the invitational side, ultimately recording a 51-43 victory.
We have run the rule over the 23 England representatives and rated each individual’s performances below.
- Simon Hammersley – 6
There were a couple of moments early on when Hammersley and his back three colleagues found themselves out of position, but the soon-to-be Sale full-back grew into the game well. He grabbed a try at the end of a flowing England attack and looked more comfortable dealing with the high balls and sideline-to-sideline approach of the Barbarians the longer the game went on.
- Piers O’Conor – 5
A quieter performance than O’Conor would have liked, with not too much of England’s attacking success coming when they moved the ball to the right wing. He chased with energy but was also caught out of position on a couple of occasions, something which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given he plays his club rugby at outside centre and full-back.
- Joe Marchant – 8
Marchant looked very comfortable in England’s high-speed back line, with quick hands capable of linking play and impressive energy and tackling ability leading the defensive line. He demonstrated his remarkable footwork, too, dancing inside and beating three men in very little space in the build-up to Hammersley’s first half try.
- Johnny Williams – 7
A consummate performance from Williams, who pressured the Barbarians midfield in defence, as well as carrying and distributing well at inside centre. He didn’t shine individually like Marchant or Marcus Smith either side of him, but it was an encouraging display nonetheless.
- Josh Bassett – 6
A busy display from Bassett, who worked hard and was on hand to swoop on loose balls. He was clinical in transition, scoring a try from an error forced by Williams’ powerful tackling, although he was also comfortably burnt by the considerable speed of Filipo Nakosi.
- Marcus Smith – 9
A nice blend of control and endeavour from Smith, who looked equally comfortable kicking the corners and keeping England in the Barbarians half, as he did taking the ball to the line, making late decisions and executing clinically. Grabbed a try of his own, which included shifting the defence with his eyes and a show and go, set up another for Hammersley, and was on form with his goal-kicking, nailing all nine of his kicks in the game.
- Alex Mitchell – 8
One of England’s standouts on Sunday, Mitchell delivered tempo from the base and his support-running caught out the Barbarians on a number of occasions. His box-kicking and standard kicking from hand was accurate and rarely failed to find space or allow his chasers to contest. The scrum-half also made several good defensive reads, including once which set up Alex Dombrandt’s first half try.
- Ross Harrison – 5
Harrison was consistently being marched back at the scrum by a fired-up John Afoa, although he helped make up for that with a busy display in the loose. His impact clearing out was valuable for England, who prospered when they could catch the Barbarians defence still retreating.
- Tom Dunn – 6
The hooker was consistent at the lineout and made a number of powerful carries in the tight, refusing to be put down. Like Harrison, he worked hard at the breakdown in order to deliver England’s back row and back line quick ball.
- Ehren Painter – 4
Painter held up well in his first scrum but unfortunately it largely went downhill from there for the young prop. He struggled to stay up and on his feet against Joe Marler at the set-piece and when he did, he tended to be marching backwards under pressure from the experienced Barbarians tight five. Brighter days will come for the tighthead over the next few years.
- Elliott Stooke – 7
The Bath lock showed up well in the less glamorous areas of the game, positively impacting the lineout on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, as well as tackling manfully and driving Barbarians ball-carriers backwards. A handling error was unfortunately a slight blemish on an offensive performance that was quieter than his set-piece and defensive effort.
- Josh Beaumont – 6
A solid performance from Beaumont, whose display was arguably made to look slightly less impressive by the industry of his teammate in the row, Stooke. His line-speed and work chasing was noteworthy, although he wasn’t quite able to have the success as a ball-carrier that he usually does at Sale.
- Alex Dombrandt – 9
Despite the flanker’s impressive physicality, which he showcased on numerous occasions, it was his subtle lines back against the grain and work rate to pop up on players’ shoulders as a support-runner that set him apart from the pack. The Barbarians defence struggled to read, track and stop Dombrandt and he was a consistent source of front-foot ball for England, whilst his speed of feet and thought to break and unleash Williams for his try should have Eddie Jones taking notice.
- Ben Curry – 8
You could be forgiven for thinking it was regular England international Tom, not Ben, at Twickenham un Sunday, with his twin brother displaying all of the line-speed and physicality in the tackle that England fans have become used to seeing in the seven jersey. He had a fair amount of joy disrupting the Barbarians’ ball security at the breakdown, too.
- Teimana Harrison – 7
The Northampton number eight showed good hustle on Sunday and was regularly scrapping away at the contact area and securing loose balls. Like Dombrandt, he helped give England front-foot ball, although he was more prevalent as a one-out runner or on the pick and go, using his footwork to generate power into the contact, than running incisive lines.
Replacements
- Tommy Taylor – 6
The hooker didn’t have a whole lot to do after replacing Dunn, but he did connect successfully with his one lineout and made a couple of physical tackles.
- Beno Obano – 6
Obano made a few powerful tackles and carries after replacing Harrison, although it would have been interesting to see him in a longer spell and whether or not he could have helped the struggling scrum.
- Paul Hill – 6
England still struggled in the scrum later in the game, although Hill’s experience did help to stabilise the unit. Unfortunately for Painter, the number of knock-ons and scrums diminished later in the game.
- Will Spencer – 6
The lock showed impressive speed and work rate as a support-runner following his second half arrival, as well as contributing at the lineout.
- Tom Ellis – 6
Limited ability to influence the game, although threw himself around in defence as the Barbarians attempted to finish strongly.
- Ben White – 6
The scrum-half wasn’t quite able to have the attacking impact that Mitchell did, with England spending much of his time on the pitch seeing out the game, rather than attacking with the endeavour of earlier in the contest.
- Callum Sheedy – 6
Didn’t have too much opportunity to influence the game after his late arrival.
- Ben Loader – 6
The London Irish youngster made an impressive one-on-one tackle on Taqele Naiyaravoro following his late inclusion, but didn’t have too much more time to impact the game.
Watch: Mark McCall and Brad Barritt speak to the press after the Premiership final
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments