Wallabies thrash Baa-Baas at Twickers

Australia registered an emphatic 60-11 win over the Barbarians in their Killik Cup clash at Twickenham on Saturday.

As expected, running rugby was the order of the day but in the end the Wallabies were more clinical in the execution of their moves and were rewarded with eight tries against the men in black and white hoops.

Leading the way for the Australians were wings Digby Ioane and Lachlan Turner as well as replacement lock James Horwill, who each crossed over for a brace of tries.

The Baa-Baas' solitary try came via rugby league sensation Sam Tomkins who crossed over for a consolation score in the dying seconds of the match.

Playing on the right wing, Tomkins got little opportunities to showcase his talents as the Wallabies had the bulk of the possession for most of the match.

The Tri-Nations champions' experiment of playing James O'Connor at fly-half proved a success and the 21-year-old rewarded the faith shown in him by Wallabies coach Robbie Deans by scoring 20 points via seven conversions, a penalty and a drop-goal.

As the scoreline suggests Australia dominated most facets of play, although poor discipline in the first half saw Adam Ashley Cooper and James Slipper spending time in the sin bin.

Ashley-Cooper received his marching orders for a deliberate knock-on after Robbie Fruean tried to get a pass away to Tomkins early in the half and Slipper was sent off for a late tackle on Danny Cipriani.

The Barbarians failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and they were made to pay for this.

The Wallabies led 18-3 at half-time, after Ioane and Turner scored tries and turned on the style in the second half against their hapless opponents.

Australia's dominance was emphasised in the 51 st minute when Horwill crossed over for his first try.

The regular Wallabies captain, who started on the replacements bench, combined brilliantly with replacement hooker Stephen Moore from a lineout on the edge of the Baa-baas' 22 metre area and barged over the tryline mere minutes after he came on to the field.

The Barbarians gave a lacklustre performance from the start and several high-profile players in their ranks seemed disinterested for most of the match.

Their veterans Victor Matfield and Stirling Mortlock toiled manfully but without the support of their team-mates they were always going to struggle against a Wallabies side who gave an almost perfect display.

The scorers:

For Barbarians:
Try:  Tomkins
Pens:  Cipriani 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Horwill 2, Turner 2, Ioane 2, Horne, Samo
Cons:  O'Connor 7
Pen:  O'Connor
Drop-goal:  O'Connor

Barbarians:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Sam Tomkins, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements:  16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Jason White, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Richard Kahui, 22 Seru Rabeni.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Ioane Digby, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Dave Dennis, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 James Slipper
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 James Horwill, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Matt Hodgson, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Ben Tapuai.

Yellow card:  Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia — 14th minute), James Slipper (Australia — 30th minute)