Antidote NZ

More nonsense by SCW. The BaaBaas are a great tradition of rugby and yet another way in which the sport distinguishes itself from others. It's almost as misguided as those who say ditch the haka although let's not get into that. There's a romance and excitement about the BaaBaas and just because it doesn't fit into a corporate style approach to test rugby makes it even more critical that it be retained. It's great that coaches have difficulty in preparing for the BaaBaas. It a way of identifying which are the quality coaches and which are not. And what a great result for rugby.PS before I'm judged as a one-eyed Southern Hemispherite having a dig at England's expense, I have to admit to being a Pom albeit of the variety who prefers to see the game played with skill, pace and power rather than via a group of players who typically have a maximum 2 of these attributes but more often 1.

Yeah scrap it, stop embarrassing the northern hemisphere teams. LOL

Maybe they should scrap the England tour of South Africa as well so they dont embarrass themselves. Four losses in a row. Eddie Jones must be on shakey ground.

Why? Its one of the few games worth watching these days.... good to see the players returning to their roots as well and having a few bevvies along the way too!

Its the end of season (year) now for the Northern hemisphere not mid-season (mid-year). So it is the equivalent of the ABs playing the BaBas in November.

understood but in terms of when it fits into a teams calendar its still at the end of a season is it not?

I see in another article Brian Moore says that England, having lost so badly to the Barbarians, are in danger of losing their aura of invincibility.This is the charge levelled by northern hemisphere writers at the ABs from time to time when they lose a game. The difference is that the ABs actually have an aura of invincibility to start with!

scrap it because they are unpredictable? come on that should be motivation always expect the unexpected especially with the world cup looming

Sir Clive loves to chime in, dont think hed want to be coach now though. Eddie has managed to pump up their egos when he first started and they had that great run of form on top of it, even though they never faced the Number 1 team out there. Other nations around them are playing great rugby with some impressive tries, they dont get over hyped like England does and they seem to be better off for it. Maybe the men in white should focus more on the basics and fitness than collectively over hyping their aura of invisibility?

But the mid-year fixture is their equivalent to our end of year game...these June tests are their end of season tour and the baabaas game is the warm up for that tour.

Hahahaha England have an invincibility?? Wow. That Brian Moore makes me laugh

I hate to agree with Woodward, but he's right. The Barbarians game is a waste of space. A good showcase for rugby players wanting a new European club tho. Sir Clive makes a valid point. England Rugby has an exclusive policy: only players domiciles fanfics playing English club rugby are selected. Which is why Ashton and others playing outside England are excluded. So to Shields. Not playing for an English club until September 2018, currently domiciled in NZ and gets selected. When Eddie Jones was selected, Michael Lynagh was guest speaker at a Saracens fundraiser of 1,000 people. He was asked what Jones would do for England. He stated that England would train harder than ever, that control-freak Jones would not encourage on-field leadership groups, would deliver a teal bounce in performance.... for two years and then the wheels would come off. Um... pretty clear foresight from the former Aussie pivot me thinks!

im sure that we play fiji and samoa, both those teams are similar to babas

England will beat South Africa 3-0.

Agreed. The workload on English rugby players is already far too much. They need to shorten their club seasons and get more rest around the international competitions. Players like Maro Itoje and Dan Cole have been nowhere near as good as usual this season due to being over-worked.

4 losses, 3 tests in SA, November tests against NZ, SA, Japan then AusNot inconceivable they could be on a 9 game streak before Japan

Eddie Jones has come in and made one major mistake. Hes been focusing too much on winning the 2019 WC back in 2015 and 2016, and now hes running out of puff. Its well known that Eddie has a history of having short bursts of success with all of his teams before it all goes pear shaped. And the past two years has proven that and hes actually been very very successful as he should have been given the resources of the RFU. Now is obviously a very crucial time and its going to be very dangerous for him and England going to South Africa to play a reinvigorated team with a new coach and new black captain. How pumped are they going to be? Question: How on earth are the English players going to handle playing in Japan? They arent scheduled to play there this year unlike the ABs who are playing their twice. They are going to be a long, long way from their pampered surroundings in posh West London. And what shape are they going to be in, in 12 months time with mutiny on the horizon? Haha, this could be fun.

I bet if they won he wouldn't be saying that.

Unlikely to abandon these games with a full house and a big TV audience. Its carnival rugby that gives some new players a run and the chance to see some of the overseas / non-English stars in action.

Lets hope so. And hope they tie with NZ in November or suffer a very unfair / honorable defeatThat way, theyll be cocky as sh&t again, and will rest on their laurels and get trashed in the 2019 RWC