Whatever Eddie Jones had in mind for this fixture, watching George Kruis, the former England lock, backheeling a conversion through the posts in the final few minutes of an emphatic victory for the invitational side was probably not it.
For all the players absent, for all the excuses that could be made, this was without question a chastening afternoon for Jones, the biggest margin of defeat under his tenure and a humiliating one for England that raises huge concerns over the forthcoming tour of Australia.
The Barbarians hit 50 points and scored eight tries, two of which came from the excellent Damian Penaud. They were leading by three points towards the end of the first half when Will Skelton became the first player in Barbarians history to be sent off, yet they still finished with a winning margin of 31.
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.
It was, in short, a disastrous day for Jones and perhaps the most worrying aspect is how they capitulated in the closing stages, conceding four tries in the final 15 minutes.
It was not a fixture granted Test status but this defeat comes on the back of Six Nations defeats by Ireland and France and makes a three‑Test series against the improving Wallabies all the more ominous.
Jones names his squad for the tour of Australia on Monday morning and all that could be said of this showing on Sunday is that a number of this side may have played their way off the plane. Compounding matters, Alex Dombrandt withdrew from the side with a knee injury and was wearing a knee brace after the match, suggesting he is unlikely to make the tour, and Joe Cokanasiga went off after repeated attention from the medical staff.
Take nothing away from the Barbarians, who cut loose once they had broken England’s spirit with a raft of players on the fringes of the France squad advancing their reputations.
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.
They formed a 10-shape before kick-off, in memory of Phil Bennett, the former Wales fly-half and the man who started the most memorable try in Barbarians history, who died recently, and they proceeded to deliver a performance to honour him. Their first try came when Jonny May was ruled to have deliberately knocked on and, with Penaud lurking and with no cover, May was shown a yellow card and the referee, Andrea Piardi, awarded a penalty try.
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.
Jones’s decision to replace Will Collier with Patrick Schickerling after 29 minutes felt like a kick up the backside to the whole side more than an indictment of the starting tighthead’s performance.
Smith did, however, kick a second penalty and a fine dummy released Tommy Freeman, who picked out Cokanasiga. In the buildup Skelton had hit Schickerling high and, given the England replacement had already knocked the ball on, there was only likely to be one outcome. That Penaud picked off Mark Atkinson’s attempted long pass to Joe Marchant to extend the Barbarians’ lead summed up the opening half, however.
Five minutes after the interval Jones called on Danny Care for a first England appearance since November 2018 but the scrum-half was powerless to stop his opposite number, Baptiste Couilloud, going under the posts for a fourth Barbarians try. That Kruis – on his swansong appearance before retirement – nudged Hastoy out of the way to take the straightforward conversion only rubbed salt into the wounds of the side for which he won 45 caps. It also gave the Barbarians a handy 15-point lead.
May, making his first appearance for England since the autumn, appeared to give them a way back by cutting inside and splashing over – Smith was again the architect – but Penaud’s second try returned the lead to three scores once more. Smith then finished off the try his industry deserved but again the Barbarians replied – the 20-year-old replacement scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, for whom a bright future beckons, dinking over the top for Louis Carbonel to seize the ball and dot down.
Before England were put out of their misery, Max Spring rounded off another delightful score after a fine break from Sekou Macalou – playing as a makeshift winger – before Kruis put the chef’s kiss on the Barbarians’ afternoon. There was still time for Hastoy to add try No 8, and for Kruis to complete his conversion hat-trick.
