The All-Conquering Barbarians Are The Rugby Heroes The World Needs
A ragtag bunch of rugby misfits, the Barbarians rolled into Wembley last weekend and held international rugby team South Africa to a 31-31 draw. That result hardly even ranks among the club’s greatest moments, writes Jamie Wall.
This week the All Blacks are licking their wounds in Rome, the Wallabies are strutting with renewed confidence around Edinburgh, and the Springboks are still in London, preparing for a huge game against England at Twickenham.
But what about the Boks’ last opponent, the team that held them to a highly entertaining 31-31 draw? Their next match has come and gone already – on Tuesday night they beat the Czech Republic 71-0, an on-field performance only outshone by the team’s live Twitter updates:
TRY! Mr 5000 @MattFaddes himself sears his way over from 60m out. Like a Samsung Note 7, he's on fire. 0-19 #rugby #rugbyunited #worldrugby
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) November 8, 2016
That’s the way the Barbarians roll. Since being formed in 1890, Barbarian F.C. have beaten all the major test playing nations – in fact, they’ve got an overall winning record against the Springboks, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They’ve also attempted and failed to beat Russia and Zimbabwe.
Selection to the Baabaas is by invitation only, and historically geographical convenience has meant most teams have been stacked with players from the UK. This isn’t always the case however, with the current squad seeming to have been mostly picked on strong performances in New Zealand’s Mitre 10 Cup. While they play (and often beat) the big boys, the Barbarians also make sure they spread the rugby love throughout emerging rugby nations too.
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Because of this, they’re responsible for some of the most memorable moments in international rugby. Probably the most famous try of all time was scored in the black-and-white hooped jersey, while the tradition of wearing your own club socks has been adopted by provincial sides all over the world. Here’s some of the Baabaa’s greatest moments.
1973: Barbarians 23 All Blacks 11
Yes, it has THE TRY by Gareth Edwards. But there is so much more to enjoy in this game, starting off with the Baabaa’s almost scoring a try equally as good straight afterwards, only saved by a desperate cover tackle. Throw in an All Blacks defensive plan based entirely around head-high tackles (especially on JPR Williams), 5’5″ winger Grant Batty scoring a double and easily the most woeful haka ever committed to film. Plus sideburns… so many sideburns.
2001: Barbarians 74 Scotland 31
Jonah Lomu’s most famous quartet of tries was against England in the 1995 World Cup, but it wasn’t the only time he scored four in one match. Poor Scottish winger Cameron Murray spent the whole game wishing he’d decided to play soccer as a youngster as Lomu toyed with his feeble defensive effort. It appears the Scotsman convinced his other winger to swap places with him in the second half. In all honestly, Lomu could’ve picked up about seven tries, but started getting generous and giving the ball to his teammates after he’d got his hat trick.
2009: Barbarians 25 All Blacks 18
This game might be the last time the All Blacks ever lose a non-test match, however this Baabaa’s team had enough talent to be a bona-fide ‘Best of the Rest’ XV. It was essentially the Wallaby and Springbok backlines mixed together, along with recent All Black Joe Rokocoko for good measure. Bryan Habana scorched down the field for a hat trick, making him most recent player to ever achieve that feat against the All Blacks, while a young Ben Smith and Anthony Boric scored for the visitors. However, the real winner on the day was retro fashion, with the Baabaa’s white collars pointing skyward in triumph.
2011: Barbarians 31 Wales 28
The Baabaa’s turned into the ultimate party-poopers for Wales’ 130th anniversary celebration match at Millennium Stadium, with a try to Fijian international Isa Nacewa in the dying stages snatching victory. This wasn’t even a particularly terrible Welsh team, either – they went on to make the semi-finals of the World Cup later that year. One tradition the Baabaa’s have is to include one uncapped player in their side, however there’s nothing in the rules about them being an international in another sport. Former Bulldogs, New South Wales and Kangaroos representative Willie Mason came off the bench, throwing a perfect offload to set up the winner.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments