England v Baa Baas Match Preview
England RWC Winners!
By Kath Updated due to injuries 18/12/03
December 18 2003
England Head Coach Clive Woodward on return from the Rugby World Cup must have thought he could celebrate England's win and look forward to the lead up to Christmas with this family.
England
v Baa Baas Match Preview
England Head Coach Clive Woodward on return from the Rugby World Cup must have thought he could celebrate England's win and look forward to the lead up to Christmas with this family and then onto the next six nations tournament. No such luck! He was handed a bit of a poisoned chalice immediately upon his return with the RFU announcing a England 15 v Baa Baas 15 select match to be held just five days before Christmas and at the height of the Zurich Premiership when all fans were expecting the Rugby World Cup players to return and bolster their respective sides.
Unfortunately, whoever Clive picked would not suit some Zurich Premiership fans but surely the blame cannot be laid at his door for this match. The RFU may have deemed it a good idea at the time as I understand that it was arranged shortly after England winning the Rugby World Cup but I, like others, do wish they had thought about it just a little longer.
However, the game goes ahead and we must all make the best of it and enjoy what has been achieved in these last few months, if we can't enjoy all these activities now after all these years of waiting - well there must be something wrong with us!
With all of the above in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to get a little background history about the concept of the Baa Baas.
The Barbarians
This exclusive club is formed by invitation only and its philosophy is based on attack, as the name suggests.
Baa Baa's history
The club was inspired by one man - William Percy Carpmael. He loved the culture behind the rugby tour and came up with the idea of regular short tours involving players of the highest skill levels. In 1890 he took the Southern Nomads - mainly composed of players from Blackheath - on a tour to the north.
In Leuchters Restaurant, Bradford, the concept of the Barbarians was agreed upon over an oyster supper.
The concept took hold over the years and the nearest thing to a club home came to be the Esplanade Hotel, Penarth, where the Barbarians always stayed on their Easter tours of Wales.
The big development came on 31 January 1948, when an
international match was played against the touring Australian Wallabies. The
plan was originated to help pay for the Aussies to return home via Canada, and
it was a huge success. Cardiff Arms Park was packed with 45,000 spectators and
the rugby matched the occasion, the invitational side finally running out 9-6
victors.
A legend had been born and the Barbarians game became the
traditional high point to end a tour of the British Isles.
The Barbarians played in South Africa for the first time in 1952,
losing 12-3, and New Zealand in 1954, losing 19-5.
And so it continues to this day.................the players all wear the Baa Baa's strip but wear the socks of their own individual clubs which I think is a special touch.
England:
Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Ollie Smith
(Leicester), Stuart Abbott (Wasps), Ben Cohen (Northampton), Paul Grayson
(Northampton), Andy Gomarsall (Gloucester); Joe
Worsley (Wasps), Richard Hill Captain (Saracens), Martin Corry
(Leicester), Danny Grewcock (Bath), Simon Shaw
(Wasps), Matt Stevens (Bath), Andy Titterrall(Sale), Trevor Woodman (Gloucester).
Replacements:
Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Andy Longl (Rotherham), Hugh Vyvyan (Newcastle Falcons), Pat
Sanderson (Harlequins), Kyran Bracken (Saracens), Mike
Tindall (Bath). Ben Gollings (Newcastle Falcons)
New
Zealand Barbarians: J
Muller (Cats); R Gear (North Harbour), K Lowen (Waikato), D Gibson (Leicester),
D Albanese (Leeds); G Jackson (Bay of Plenty), D Lee (Otago). T
Woodcock (North Harbour), A Hore (Taranaki), D Manu (Waikato), T Flavell (North
Harbour), S Maling (Otago), T Randell (Saracens, Captain), J Blackie (Otago),
X Rush (Auckland).
Replacements: A Tiatia (Harlequins), M
Hurter (Newcastle), N Maxwell (Canterbury), S Harding (Otago), B Willis
(Harlequins), T Vili (Borders), E Taione (Newcastle).
Just time to sound my usual cry...............
The
game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge.......
'CRY GOD FOR HARRY ENGLAND AND ST. GEORGE '
Henry V (1599) Act3, Scene1
Sources:
Baa Baa's History - BBC Archives