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.

England suffocate the Barbarians

England responded to successive defeats Down Under with a 15-9 win over the Australian Barbarians in a dull game in Gosford on Tuesday.

Flat is the word to describe the 80 minutes that supporters at the Bluetongue Stadium were forced to endure, with penalties from Charlie Hodgson, Olly Barkley and Berrick Barnes troubling the scorers in a try-less spectacle.

The Barbarians had edged into a 9-6 lead early in the second half with three penalties from Barnes before England's scrum dominance proved the difference and Barkley did the rest.

Australia's second-string had ended up with two hookers in the front row and England took full advantage as Barkley sealed a sleepy win.

England's Test squad remained back in Sydney and did not make the 50-mile journey north, although the whole Australia squad was present.

The midweek side were captained by Joe Worsley and they featured seven changes from the 28-28 draw with the Barbarians last Tuesday.

Wing David Strettle and centre Dominic Waldouck were among those making their first starts of the trip and their quick hands and lively running contributed to an enterprising start.

England dominated the first quarter and took a third minute lead with a Hodgson penalty after Ward-Smith's break down the wing.

Matt Banahan made three powerful runs and Strettle was enthusiastic and elusive as England looked to inject some pace into their game on the back of another dominant scrum performance.

Waldouck showed great hands to flick a pass over his shoulder and then picked a perfect line to carve through the Barbarians defence.

Referee Steve Walsh awarded England a dubious penalty, which Hodgson missed but he soon pushed the tourists further ahead as the Barbarians struggled to break out of their own half.

England worked another promising opportunity but Hodgson's flick-pass for Delon Armitage on the overlap drifted forward and to the ground.

That was the best England had to offer, their execution again a disappointment and Waldouck, one of their brighter sparks, was forced off injured after 27 minutes.

The Barbarians also had to make a change but it only improved their creativity with Barnes on for the injured Will Chambers and with it swung the balance of power.

Barkley halted a driving run from Barbarians flanker Ben McCalman before Kurtley Beale made his own dart for the line and England reacted just in time to stop him short of the whitewash.

The Barbarians kept the pressure on and England began to lose their composure.  Barnes slotted two penalties to draw the Barbarians level and England were fortunate not to trail at the interval after missing a simple shot at goal.

Both sides began to ring the changes but England's performance continued to deteriorate, with poor tackling and basic errors allowing the Barbarians to remain on top.

Barnes kicked a third penalty to edge the Barbarians ahead before Barkley assumed the kicking duties to respond, after another powerful England scrum.

The scrum proved decisive in the end.  The Australian Barbarians finished with two hookers in the front row.  England milked that dominance and Barkley kicked them to victory.

The scorers:

For Australian Barbarians:
Pen:  Barnes 3

For England:
Pen:  Hodgson 2, Barkley 3

Australian Barbarians:  15 Peter Hynes, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Kurtley Beale;  9 Josh Valentine, 8 Stephen Hoiles (c), 7 Pat McCutcheon, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Mitchell Chapman, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pekahou Cowan.
Replacements:  16 Huia Edmonds, 17 James Slipper, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 James O'Connor.

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 David Strettle, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 James Haskell, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Joe Worsley (capt), 5 Dan Ward-Smith, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements:  16 Rob Webber, 17 David Flatman, 18 Chris Robshaw, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Mathew Tait.

Referee:  Steve Walsh

England begin tour with a draw

England opened their tour account Down Under with a 28-28 draw against the Australian Barbarians thanks to a thrilling fightback in Perth.

A James O'Connor masterclass saw England on the ropes before they responded in positive fashion.

The Western Force full-back picked up all 25 of the Baa-Baas' points before being replaced on 47 minutes.  By that stage England were 25-13 down and on the brink of defeat -- with O'Connor having scored three tries, two conversions and two penalties.

However when he departed, England were able to hit back -- and were only denied an unlikely victory when Berrick Barnes slotted over a late penalty.  In fact, Barnes had a chance to win it for the hosts in injury time, but his kick went wide.

For England Lee Mears, Dan Ward-Smith and Matt Banahan crossed for tries and Olly Barkley added 13 points with the boot.

And, in truth, it was a decent work out for the tourists.  Mathew Tait and Matt Banahan looked lively, Hendrie Fourie and Chris Robshaw tackled well, the pack worked well at the breakdown, while the scrum was impressive.

However on the downside, they too often looked toothless in attack -- at one stage losing 40 yards before Charlie Hodgson was forced to boot the ball downfield -- while silly mistakes gifted openings to the hosts.

England will have been pleased with their start as a Barkley penalty saw them into a 3-0 lead after two minutes, while their work at the breakdown saw them force five turnovers.

Banahan had one charging run, while Tait had a couple of half-breaks.  However it was Tait's Sale colleague Hodgson who went closest to scoring the first try as he took Barkley's offload, but he was tackled short before the hosts conceded a penalty.

Barkley made no mistake with the kick but the Baa-Baas responded well as Barnes was denied by Fourie just short of the line.

However, the Australians got the try they wanted minutes later as quick hands found O'Connor out wide and although Ugo Monye got the tackle in, the young full-back stretched out an arm to touch the ball down in the corner.

O'Connor added a penalty and then crossed again on 31 minutes after he sold a superb dummy and sprinted clear.  His conversion made it 15-6 to hosts and England looked in trouble.

However the tourists were able to score their opening try on 35 minutes.  Both Tait and Monye went close before Mears barrelled over from close range.

Barkley converted but the Baa-Baas had the last word before the break as O'Connor slotted over a penalty.

And O'Connor was England's tormentor again after half-time as he touched down after Josh Valentine had slotted the ball through on the deck.  O'Connor's conversion took his tally to 25 points.

A Barkley penalty cut the deficit to nine points, but too often needless mistakes cost England possession and territory.

However, with England's scrum proving dominant, the tourists were able to gain a foothold into the game.  And after seeing repeated scrums collapse 5m out, Australia's Mark Chisholm was sin-binned.

With the extra man and the power in the pack, England were able to hammer their way over through Ward-Smith, with Barkley converting.

Banahan crossed two minutes later to put England in front.  Shane Geraghty had found Geoff Parling free on the left and although he was tackled short, quick ball found Banahan on the other flank for the Bath winger to score.

Hopes of a shock England victory, though, were ended as Worsley conceded a penalty from the restart, with Barnes this time adding the three points.

The scorers:

Australian Barbarians:
Tries:  O'Connor 3
Cons:  O'Connor 2
Pens:  O'Connor, Barnes

For England:
Tries:  Mears, Banahan, Ward-Smith
Cons:  Barkley 2
Pens:  Barkley 3

Australian Barbarians:  15 James O'Connor, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Berrick Barnes (co-capt), 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Stephen Hoiles (co-capt), 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Mitchell Chapman, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Huia Edmonds, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements:  16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 James Slipper, 18 Kane Douglas, 19 Pat McCutcheon, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Kurtley Beale, 22 Peter Hynes.

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Dan Ward-Smith, 7 Hendre Fourie, 6 Chris Robshaw (c), 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Dominic Waldouck.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson