Friday 26 August 2011

Two-try return for Drew Mitchell

Drew Mitchell scored two tries on his international return from an ankle injury to lead Australian Barbarians to an easy 38-14 victory over Canada.

The lethal finisher, who was playing his third match since suffering that horrific Super Rugby injury, was one of four on the comeback trail.

Berrick Barnes, Rob Horne, James Slipper and Tatafu Polota-Nau all came through unscathed in a selection that saw veteran Nathan Sharpe lead.

Centre Ben Tapuai, who was not selected for the World Cup, had a hand in the first three Barbarian tries and scored one of his own late in the day.

Horne, who also scored a try, was later named as a reserve for the Wallabies in Saturday's match after he was rested for the second half.

Canada will play in Pool A with France, Japan, New Zealand and Tonga at the World Cup.

The scorers:

For Australian Barbarians:
Tries:  Horne, Barnes, Mitchell 2, Hodgson, Tapuai
Con:  Barnes 4

For Canada:
Tries:  Van der Merwe, McKenzie
Con:  Pritchard 2

Australian Barbarians:  15 Lachie Turner, 14 Rod Davies, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Pat McCutcheon, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (capt), 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 James Slipper, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements:  16 James Hanson, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Beau Robinson, 20 Ben Tapuai, 21 Luke Morahan, 22 Mark Gerrard.

Canada:  15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Adam Kleeberger, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements:  16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Scott Franklin, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Sean White, 21Conor Trainor, 22 Nathan Hirayama.

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