British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Definitely room for the Barbarians!
Both winners and losers were united in a common belief, that there is a future for the invitational side in the modern game after they beat the World Champions 22-5 in a soggy Twickenham!ÂÂ
Eddie O’Sullivan said:
“The test of the Barbarians is whether people come to watch them and what the boys produced today was up there with any Barbarians performance,”
“People want to see that sort of rugby. We talked all week about the Barbarians ethos, running with the ball at every opportunity, but in the second half the guys put their bodies on the line for ages and I was very impressed.”
Johann Muller, deputising for John Smit said that the Barbarians stepped up to the mark in a real match.
“We were beaten by a better, more committed team — that was some of the best defence I’ve ever seen in my life out there,”
Jake White in his final game in charge of the Boks said:
“These sorts of fixtures are part of rugby union and we must be careful about chiselling away at them,”
“The one thing you must never forget that rugby union has is history; to have a game like that, you’ve got to be excited about the way the Barbarians played for their jersey today.”
White also paid tribute to another departing great, Jason Robinson – who after a fantastic game received a standing ovation:
“He was a great rugby league player and an unbelievable rugby union player,”
“There was a fair bit of emotion on their team to see him off with a bit of a bang. It was a nice day for everybody and hopefully these Baba games will continue.”
All in all a fantastic day out for the Barbarians!