England v Barbarians 2013

On a sunny May afternoon members from Imperial College RFC head to Twickenham for the annual England Barbarians match.

On a sunny May afternoon members from Imperial College RFC head to Twickenham for the annual England Barbarians match. After making our way through the crowd we find that our seats, generously provided by the mortgage calculator team at NatWest, are pretty good with the England bench only a few feet away.

The match started quickly when a Marland Yarde break lead to Freddie Burns try within the first minute much to the joy of the thousands of spectators.  While the first half started fast it became a more even affair with England dominating the set pieces and open play but failing to score any tries as England kept a conservative style of play - yawn. The teams went in at half time England 16 – 0 Barbarians.

The second half was a much more exciting affair as the game began to be played with the Barbarians trademark flair highlighted by prop Davie Wilson’s lightning break in broken play with a sublime Sonny-Bill offload leading to England’s first score of the half as Yarde went over and Burns converted. After wholesale substitutions for both sides the game opened up even more and the recent league convert Kyle Eastmond darted through the barbarians defence from just inside the 22 to score England’s 3^rd try of the game. At this point the game began to break up and after some quick reactions from Billy Twelvetrees England went the length of the pitch for their fourth try from lightning fast winger Christian Wade.

Twelvetrees then got a try of his own after using his not inconsiderable 16 stone frame to barge over the try line with the ball (and several barbarians!). Without frontline kicker Burns on the pitch Eastmond stepped up but had a rather comical miss from right in front of the sticks.

The barbarians stepped up their game leading to a try from a driving maul scored by Saracens hooker Schalk Brits. After this there was an interruption to the game as a streaker ran onto the pitch and proceeded to run around the entire security team showing phenomenal skill – and perhaps the best sidestep of the game finishing with a graceful swan dive for a “try”.

Despite the interruption the barbarians crossed the line again after a wonderful show and go from English full-back Eliot Daly who is desperate to show Stuart Lancaster what he’s missing. The game ended with a flurry as Mike Tindall desperately tried to keep the ball in play 5 metres from the England line but has perhaps got a bit slow in his old age and the referee blew the final whistle.

While the first half wasn’t great this was a thoroughly enjoyable game made all the more so by the atmosphere in the stadium. A Barbarians match is always good to watch whether a die-hard rugby fan or a newbie just there for a good time.

A big thanks once again to Sport Imperial and ZenithOpitmedia for the opportunity.

By Jonathan Lineham- Imperial College Rugby Union