England vs Barbarians LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as brilliant Baa Baas thump dismal England

Galthié has unsurprisingly brought a French flavour to the Baa-Baas with ten of the starting XV eligible for Les Bleus, as Fiji’s Levani Botia and Davit Niniashvili of Georgia are the only non-Frenchmen in the backs. Englishman George Kruis makes the final appearance of his rugby career in the second row, against his former international colleagues.

Jones has opted for an experimental England side, with Tom Curry handed the captaincy and full-back Tommy Freeman and hooker Jack Walker being handed their first England appearances - although this is a non-capped match. Scrum-half Danny Care has been recalled to the England squad for the first time since 2018, having previously represented his country on 84 occasions.

Will Joseph has caught the eye during England training, can he take his chance against the Barbarians?

The 19-year-old younger brother of England international Jonathan is a London Irish prodigy and could be among the most exciting players today.

Here’s a touching moment from the Barbarians’ camp.

Here is the touching moment when Patrick Schickerling found out he’s in the England match day squad for the first time.

“We have a good balance of very young players but very talented players who are French development players with experienced players, like George Kruis, we have one English player in the British Barbarians,” explained Galthié.

“We showed the players the story of the British Barbarians with the first match in 1890, the first pictures of the first team and we showed some footage about some Barbarians tries and Phil Bennett [who died this week] against New Zealand in 1973 and his action was in the middle of our footage, so we spoke about him as a player and a man.”

England kick off the international rugby union summer with the traditional curtain-raiser against invitational side Barbarians at Twickenham this afternoon.

Traditionally a points-fest, with free-flowing rugby prioritised ahead of defensive solidity, the fixture will be a warm-up for England’s upcoming Test series in Australia - the home country of head coach Eddie Jones.

Barbarians are being coached by Fabien Galthié - mastermind of France’s Six Nations triumph earlier this year - and he has instilled the importance of the Baa-Baas’ history into his largely French squad.

“We have a good balance of very young players but very talented players who are French development players with experienced players, like George Kruis, we have one English player in the British Barbarians,” explained Galthié. “We showed the players the story of the British Barbarians with the first match in 1890, the first pictures of the first team and we showed some footage about some Barbarians tries and Phil Bennett [who died this week] against New Zealand in 1973 and his action was in the middle of our footage, so we spoke about him as a player and a man.”

Freddie Burns admitted he was still in shock after landing the “dead duck” of a drop goal that secured Leicester Tigers the Gallagher Premiership title with a dramatic 15-12 victory over Saracens.

Burns’ winning kick wobbled between the posts with 22 seconds left in a blood and thunder final at Twickenham as the Tigers staged a determined drive downfield to give their replacement fly-half the best possible platform from which to strike.

Leicester had lost their general George Ford to a first-half ankle injury and Burns stepped up admirably in the climax to the first season of his second spell at Welford Road.

Eddie Jones will use his “teabag theory” to decide if the rookies on parade against the Barbarians on Sunday are ready to participate in England’s tour of Australia.

Full-back Tommy Freeman and hooker Jack Walker are the uncapped players in action at Twickenham, but Joe Cokanasiga, Mark Atkinson and Bevan Rodd will also be seeking the type of performance that convinces Jones they will be needed Down Under.

Emerging prospects populate the bench as well and they enter this annual non-cap international knowing that it is the last chance to secure selection before the touring squad is named on Monday.

“It’s all about opportunity,” said head coach Jones, who has named veteran scrum-half Danny Care on the bench.

“This is a practise game for Australia and an opportunity for some young guys to show us what they’re capable of under almost Test-like conditions. “We’ll see whether they’re ready for the next jump.

“Last-minute impressions are always important. We always talk about the teabag theory. You get your tea bag out of the packet and you never really know how good it is until you put the hot water into it.

“And on Sunday some of these young guys are going to be in hot water, so we’ll see how good the tea is.”