Harlequins duo shine as England beat the Barbarians
Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt excelled in front of Eddie Jones as England successfully navigated their way through the tricky annual fixture against the Barbarians by registering a 51-43 victory at Twickenham.
The Harlequins duo both scored to press their claims for inclusion in Jones’ first World Cup training squad, which is to be named at the end of the month.
Smith withdrew from the England Under-20s squad bound for the junior world championships in order to prove himself against a star-studded Barbarians line-up containing 478 caps, and that bold decision paid off.
The 20-year-old fly-half played intelligently and added to his clever try with three penalties and six conversions in an unblemished afternoon from the kicking tee to finish man of the match.
Dombrandt reproduced the powerful carrying and sharp lines that have lit up Harlequins’ season and while neither he nor Smith are likely to travel to Japan this autumn, they identified themselves as fringe contenders.
Centre Joe Marchant and scrum-half Alex Mitchell also starred as England, who were coached by the Rugby Football Union’s pathway development coach Jim Mallinder, were forced to survive a second-half Barbarians fightback.
Four tries in quick succession gave Pat Lam’s men sight of the finishing line only for Dombrandt’s second try and the kicking of Smith to shut the door.
An impressive crowd of 17,402 attended the England women’s 40-14 victory in their historic maiden fixture against the Barbarians that launched the afternoon, with that figure increasing to 40,230 for the main event.
The willingness to attack from inside their own 22 led to the Barbarians conceding early on as centre Johnny Williams pounced on a poorly-executed midfield move to send Josh Bassett over in the left corner.
The response was a two-try salvo that began when All Blacks fly-half Colin Slade spotted James Horwill was in acres of space and hoisted an inch-perfect kick for the retiring Harlequins lock to touch down.
Barbarians line-out trickery enabled their second as the ball was thrown to Joe Marler and two drives later Francois Louw was over.
But their lead soon gave way to a hefty deficit as three converted tries in six minutes sent England into the break 31-12 ahead.
Marchant initiated the first of two high-quality tries by using quick feet to create an opening and with the impressive Mitchell and Ben Curry outside him in support, full-back Simon Hammersley was able to cross.
Smith was the next to score through an out-stretched arm as he cleverly chose the moment to get involved in England’s attack and created enough doubt in Barbarians minds to force a gap.
Dombrandt then completed a thrilling spell by cantering over after Mitchell had intercepted Rhys Webb’s pass at a line-out.
Turning from scorer to provider, Dombrandt expertly read an overly-ambitious Barbarians move to leap on a loose ball and charge forward before offloading to Johnny Williams.
Sharp hands conjured a try for Mark Atkinson to stem the flow of England points and when replacement Rhodri Williams finished a move that started from inside the 22, the Barbarians suddenly had hope.
Atkinson’s second after a dazzling run from Charles Piutau ate further into the deficit and the revival continued when a line-out was driven over, with Dave Heffernan crossing.
England now only led by three points but a Smith penalty and Dombrandt’s second try put them out of sight.
PA
Comments on RugbyPass
Wouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
47 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
47 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
47 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
47 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
1 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
47 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
47 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
47 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
47 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
47 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
47 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
47 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to comments