New Zealand beat Barbarians 22-31 riding on dominating second half performance

by Frank Nickson Sunday 5 November 2017

Sam Cane was one of the try-scorer for New Zealand

©PA

Barbarians 22 - 31 New Zealand, Twickenham Stadium

A dominant second-half performance from New Zealand saw them come from behind and register a 22-31 win over Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

This was also the 11th encounter between the two teams with All Blacks winning eight out of it and also marked the 125th anniversary of the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Fly-half Richie Mo'unga scored an opening try in the eighth minute and soon fullback George Bridge also crossed over as Barbarians doubled the lead to 10 points.

Steve Hansen's men finally opened their account with a touchdown in the 17th minute to bring down the trail to five points following which Sam Carter and Vaea Fifita exchanged tries for Barbarians and New Zealand respectively. The invitational side ended the first half with a 17-10 lead.

After the first 12 minutes went without a point at the start of the second half, New Zealand stepped up the accelerator with Ngani Laumape (52'), Sam Cane (54') and Nathan Harris (58') also going past the line and a triple conversion from Beauden Barrett ensured the world champions warmed up for the European tour with a 22-31 victory.

New Zealand will face France, Scotland and Wales in their November Test campaign.