England fell to a third successive defeat as the Barbarians overcame a first-half red card shown to Will Skelton to win 52-21 at Twickenham, their biggest victory in the fixture.
Skelton became the first player sent off in Barbarians history when his shoulder to the head of Patrick Schickerling ended the Exeter prop’s afternoon because of a failed head injury assessment.
Forced to play 43 minutes with only 14 men, Fabien Galthie’s men showed their class by continuing to run in tries with Damian Penaud crossing twice and Baptiste Couilloud, Louis Carbonel, Max Spring and Antoine Hastoy also on the scoresheet.
Even the arrival of Danny Care early in the third quarter for his first international appearance in nearly four years failed to inspire disjointed England, who fired only in sporadic bursts.
Eddie Jones had picked the usual mix of youth and experience for the annual uncapped international, but even allowing for the experimental line-up it was a disappointing outing ahead of next month’s three-Test series against Australia.
To rub salt into England’s wounds, their former lock George Kruis kicked three conversions including an outrageous backheel to head into retirement with a smile on his face.
As a mark of respect for former Wales international Phil Bennett, who died last Sunday, the Barbarians players formed the number 10 before a minute’s applause was heard for a player who represented the invitational club 20 times.
England wings Joe Cokanasiga and Jonny May were looking to make big impressions to secure their places to Australia following injury-enforced absences and they experienced mixed fortunes.
Cokanasiga was prominent amid a promising start by the hosts and he brought Twickenham to its feet with a
Read more on bt.com
bt.com
