Baa-Baas can't stop Wallabies
Australia warmed up for their upcoming one-off Test against Wales with a 60-11 rout of the Barbarians at Twickenham.
Last Updated: 27/11/11 10:23am
Australia warmed up for their one-off Test against Wales next Saturday with a 60-11 rout of the Barbarians at Twickenham.
The Wallabies grabbed eight tries, Digby Ioane, Lachie Turner and James Horwill all crossing twice, while James O'Connor kicked 20 points on his first start at fly-half.
They only led 18-3 at the break but scored 42 points in the second half, meaning they record their biggest ever win over the Baa-Baas.
There was a late consolation try for England rugby league international Sam Tomkins, with Danny Cipriani, on his first appearance at Twickenham since 2008, kicking two first-half penalties for the Barbarians.
Impressed
Tomkins certainly adapted well to the change of rules in his very first rugby union game just a week after facing Australia in the Four Nations final.
The Wigan full-back started on the wing and could have scored in the first half had Bryan Habana not ruined a scintillating break with a forward pass.
He also saw Robbie Fruean refuse to offload the ball early enough on a breakaway after the Crusaders centre had intercepted a pass near his own line.
Adam Ashley-Cooper managed to get his hand on the pass when it was eventually thrown, though the Wallabies full-back was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, one that almost certainly saved a try.
O'Connor twice kicked the tourists into the lead, first with a penalty and then a drop-goal, and he will compete with Cipriani to start at fly-half for the Melbourne Rebels next season.
After Ashley-Cooper's return to action, Australia scored their first try when Ioane galloped through a massive gap in midfield to beat Cipriani and score.
Australia, though, were down to 14 men for a second time when prop James Slipper shoulder-charged Cipriani late, but again the Barbarians could not take advantage.
O'Connor and Scott Higginbotham butchered golden opportunities with forward passes but the Wallabies secured an 18-3 half-time lead with a try in the corner from Turner.
It was one-way traffic after the interval, the Australians finding their accuracy in attack to run in four tries in the space of just 13 minutes.
Replacement Horwill charged over after Stephen Moore, on the wraparound from a lineout, made the dent before offloading to the Wallabies' World Cup captain.
Extra man
The Barbarians lost Salvatore Perugini to the sin-bin and the Wallabies, unlike their opponents in the first 40 minutes, made the most of the extras man.
Cipriani gathered an overthrown lineout in his own 22 but was guilty of an ill-judged offload, which Rob Horne picked off to score.
Horwill added his second with a powerful run onto Nick Phipps' short pass, fending off two defenders to touch down, before Turner took advantage of another scything break from Ashley-Cooper to get Australia's sixth try.
Ioane drove through two defenders to bring up the half-century of points and Radike Samo's burst from the back of the scrum completed the rout.
The Barbarians did at least manage a try of their own before the final whistle, Cipriani showing great hands to pick up a pass off the deck and set up Tomkins, who finished with one hand in the corner.