Australia opened their international season by smashing the Barbarians 55-7 in Sydney on Saturday, running in eight tries past the visitors in the famous white and black hoops.
Most pleasing for Wallabies fans was the fact that their were clearly picking up where they left off last year -- playing like a side that had been together for six months, not six days.
The Barbarians started well, a penalty putting them deep into Wallabies territory and it was almost a dream international rugby debut for Sonny Bill Williams as he charged through a tackle of Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock only to be stopped inches short from a superb tackle from Luke Burgess.
Mortlock got his revenge just minutes later hitting Williams in a huge tackle that brought cheers from the packed Sydney Football Stadium crowd and a rye smile from the former Rugby League star.
It was the Wallabies turn to attack soon after when a clever kick ahead from Burgess saw his team-mates turn over possession just metres from the Barbarians' line.
A few phases later lock James Horwill ran a sharp angle to cut through the Barbarians' defence and crash over for the opening try for the Wallabies' 2009 season. Matt Giteau missed the conversion, but the hosts were up 5-0 after six minutes.
An offside penalty gave the Wallabies another scoring opportunity, and Mortlock showed how serious they were taking the Barbarians threat by pointing to the posts where Giteau duly obliged.
Mortlock put in a powerful run soon after and it looked like the Wallabies were in again but a crunching tackle from All Blacks legend Jerry Collins dispossessed the Wallaby skipper.
But just a minute later the home side were in after a superb scything run from winger Drew Mitchell, who picked up a loose ball in the Barbarians 22 and went through the tackles of centre Seilala Mapusua, prop B J Botha and Williams to score wide out -- just managing to ground the ball over the line despite the attention of scrum-half Chris Whitaker.
Giteau again missed the conversion but after 16 minutes the Wallabies were in control at 13-0.
The gap was almost bigger just four minutes later when breaks from inside centre Berrick Barnes and Burgess saw winger Lachie Turner sprint away before being tackled into touch just a metre from the line.
It was a momentary reprieve for the visitors, with Giteau selling two dummies to a perplexed Barbarians backline before strolling over untouched next to the posts. Giteau converted his own try and after 23 minutes the men in green and gold were out to a 20-0 lead.
The Barbarians looked to strike back shortly after with Mapusua finding a gap before Whitaker sent a long pass to winger Iain Balshaw, whose neat grubber was just gathered in time by Burgess.
Strong defence and speedy attack had the Wallabies well in control -- and the Baa-Baas were further disrupted when Mapusua limped off to be replaced by Saracens fly-half Glen Jackson, with Luke McAlister moving to inside centre.
But the Barbarians struck back just before half-time with McAlister making a break on his own 22 before Whitaker popped up twice to put Balshaw away on a sprint down the left touchline. McAlister converted wide out to give the Baa-Baas something to smile about.
The Barbarians launched the second half with a superb long range attack after replacement Ben Blair was away on a superb break, but some quick work from Mitchell saw the ball turned over deep into Wallabies' territory.
Moments later the Wallabies were on the attack. Flanker George Smith popped the ball back into replacement half-back Josh Valentine who then fed the ball inside to hooker Stephen Moore who charged away on a twenty metre burst to the line.
Giteau again converted and the Wallabies were well clear at 27-7 up with just over twenty minutes left to play.
The Barbarians then launched another attack with replacement hooker Schalk Brits (on for Sebastien Bruno) making a break before feeding inside to another replacement, prop Greg Somerville (on for Clarke Dermody).
Williams, who was having an impressive international debut, was then upended in a huge hit by Turner. Barbarian's captain Phil Waugh then received a huge ovation as he went off after a tireless performance to be replaced by French legend, Serge Betsen. Lock Chris Jack was also replaced by the Baa-Baas with Martin Corry coming on for his last game.
Ben Alexander showed the backs how it was done on 65 minutes running a superb angle from a Berrick Barnes pass to dive over under the posts for his first try for the Wallabies. The try coming after a strong burst up the middle from Mortlock.
Another conversion to Giteau and the Wallabies were up 34-7.
Polota-Nau, now on as full replacement for Moore, set up the next Wallabies try with a powerful burst. The ball came to O'Connor then to Giteau who put through a neat grubber for Mitchell to follow up and score his second try for the night.
Giteau again converted wide out and the Wallabies were out to a commanding 41-7 with just under ten minute remaining.
Pocock edged the Wallabies towards the half century, barging over for a try with four minutes to go. Mortlock converted and the Wallabies were up 48-7. Then Polota-Nau and Horwill combined to put James O'Connor away on a thirty metre sprint, outpacing the cover to score his first try for the Wallabies.
Mortlock converted and the Wallabies had laid down a marker for a daunting season ahead with one of the biggest losses in Barbarians history.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Tries: Horwill, Mitchell 2, Giteau, Moore, Alexander, Pocock, O'Connor
Cons: Giteau 3, Mortlock 2
Pen: Giteau
For Barbarians:
Try: Balshaw
Con: McAllister
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 James O'Connor
Barbarians: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Sonny Bill Williams, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Chris Whitaker, 8 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh (c), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Chris Jack, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Greg Somerville, 18 Martin Corry, 19 Serge Betsen, 20 Justin Marshall, 21 Glen Jackson, 22 Ben Blair.
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