WILL Carling has warned the Twickenham crowd not to expect a
high-scoring spectacular when the Barbarians play their traditional
end-of-tour game against Australia today.
Australia's last two games against the club resulted in a total of 129
points. But the Barbarians have not won against a touring team since
1976, finding it increasingly harder to hammer tourists with all-action
rugby.
''There will be no running at all costs,'' said Carling, the first
Englishmen to captain the Barbarians in 16 games against the three big
Southern Hemisphere countries.
''We have devised a game-plan which accepts the difficulty of knitting
together a scratch side.''
Carling insists that Australia's publicity, stressing adventurous
rugby is way in advance of reality. ''There is a lot written about their
running rugby, but they have always kicked a lot of ball,'' he said.
The Australians have no intention of finishing an amazing 18 months
with a defeat. In that period they have played Tests against all-comers,
become world champions, and won the Bledisloe Cup against the All
Blacks.
The option of entertaining or winning was put to the players in an
increasingly injury-hit squad. They decided to go for the win, although
they have the capacity to do both, especially with three of the greatest
backs in the world -- Jason Little, Tim Horan, and David Campese.
The Barbarians' team is heavily English-based with seven players
opting to miss cup ties. Jeff Probyn, the prop, is seeking a dominant
scrummaging display to remind England's selectors of his unusual skills
after having been dropped for the last two Tests.
But Bath's Stuart Barnes, fed by Robert Jones and inside Carling for
the first time for more than four years, could give the display of his
life and will still trail Rob Andrew in the England rankings.
Supplying the lineout ball are two of the literal giants of world
rugby in Canada's Norm Hadley and New Zealand's Ian Jones.
Campese's Test career will continue until at least the 1995 World Cup,
but the wing is probably making his last appearance in the Wallaby shirt
at Twickenham.
He does so with glowing praise from Bob Dwyer. ''Campo has captured
the imagination,'' said the coach. ''He will be a major loss when he
does go. There is no-one like him on the horizon.
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