Johnson Keeps Low Profile As England's Reserves Make Little Impression

The crowd sang Land of Hope and Glory just before the kick-off but it was more a case of hype and gory in England's first match since Martin Johnson was appointed team manager. Blood flowed far more than the game itself and it was more useful as an exercise in making money, with more than 55,000 parting with their hard-earned, than as preparation for this month's tour to New Zealand.

Johnson was at the ground yesterday but adopted the lowest of profiles. He may have left early or become distracted by the Mexican waves that started breaking out early in the second half. He would have learned what he already knew, that Leicester and Wasps have virtually monopolized the Premiership titles this decade essentially because of the power they have had at forward, both in terms of ball-winning and carrying. Denied players from the previous day's play-off final, along with those from another club renowned for their forward play, Bath, England's tyros struggled against the Barbarians' long-toothed tight-five in which the youngest player was 32 .

So, while England enjoyed supremacy in the lineout, much to the frustration of their World Cup hooker, Mark Regan, who was captaining the Barbarians, they were routed in the scrum, lost a welter of possession at the breakdown and lacked a ball-carrier to drive up the middle, a deficiency that was also exposed in midfield where too much lateral movement exposed the need for a direct runner such as Mike Tindall.

In the battle between aspiration and cynicism, the referee, George Clancy, was a casualty. He awarded 31 penalties and free-kicks on an afternoon when the emphasis should have been on entertainment. Far from living up to their ideal the Barbarians, boasting an average age nigh on 32, shamed the jersey. The club is renowned for the electricity it has generated in years past but yesterday was all about static with the only sparks coming from the Australia second-row Justin Harrison, who is joining Bath this summer, and the equally intolerant England prop Jason Hobson.

They both left their calling cards, Harrison sparring verbally with Nick Easter from the start, typically high on nuisance value throughout, and Hobson pushing and shoving until it came to the scrums when he was pushed and shoved. The pair's antics were the only throwback to yesteryear, and a fixture that is back on the RFU's calendar will be seen as exploitative unless the Barbarians start choosing players whose best years are not a distant memory.

As an exercise ahead of the New Zealand tour, it was next to futile. Nick Kennedy stole a few lineouts, Mathew Tait made the best two breaks of the game without proving that outside-centre is his best international position and there were moments when England played the way of their former head coach, Brian Ashton, in a manner they failed to when he was in charge - off-loading in contact, freeing runners with neat slip passes and showing intent. But the fact that the wing David Strettle hardly had a pass said everything of an afternoon that was a match too far.

"The Barbarians were very streetwise," said Rob Andrew, Johnson's stand-in for the next month, reflecting on a side in which 10 starters were in their 30s. "After losing heavily to Ireland, they came with a determined effort to stop us from playing and they succeeded. It was never going to be about putting things right before the tour but giving players a run who had not been in action for a few weeks."

The Barbarians had been rebuked after capitulating to Ireland. "We played suicide rugby at Kingsholm and we had to make a better fist of it today," said the club's coach, David Young. "Are England going to go to New Zealand, roll away at the breakdown and let the All Blacks have the ball? It was a game we should have won because we blew two great try-scoring opportunities in the second half."

He was referring to Seilala Mapusua's failure to hold on to the ball for a second interception try and Morgan Turinui's' despairing juggling act after an Iain Balshaw break, but the biggest impact was made by Jerry Collins, the flanker who left New Zealand last week after ending his national contract. The All Blacks' coach, Graham Henry, bid him good riddance but the flanker did his bit for the tour by ending Charlie Hodgson's game on 36 minutes after an accidental clash of heads and cost England a second outside-half after the break when he, again without malice, made contact with Toby Flood after the No8 Pedrie Wannenburg's high tackle.

Regan sported a wistful look when asked about England's prospects in New Zealand. "I hope they do well but it will be a major test for them," he said. "There are question marks over their scrum but they do have guys from Wasps, Leicester and Bath coming back. It was just a pity we did not get the rub of the green with the referee."