Kimberley - England were made to work hard for their 54-26 victory over the SA Barbarians South in a midweek tour clash here at GWK Park on Wednesday.
The BaaBaas forced England to play to the very last minute, putting up a brave fight with only a handful of practise sessions ahead of the encounter.
Barbarians loose forward Jacques Engelbrecht scored in the 4th minute with flyhalf Elgar Watts converting to give the BaaBaas the early lead.
England flyhalf Charlie Hodgson converted a penalty soon there after.
England's first sniff at points inspired the home side to some good attacking play and within the first ten minutes they set up camp twice on England's goal line.
England stuttered through the opening minutes, with Hodgson slotting another penalty to bring the deficit to one point after some good BaaBaas defence.
England eightman Thomas Waldrom scored his side's first five pointer after he burst through some poor tackles by the home side.
Waldrom's try opened the floodgates, with winger Christian Wade running over after recovering his own clever chip-kick.
Winger George Lowe scored soon thereafter with Hodgson converting the third try.
The BaaBaas found some renewed vigour and attacked, with England flanker James Haskell receiving a yellow card for continued infringements at the breakdown area.
With five minutes before half-time, the home side scored their second through hooker Hannes Franklin.
Watts converted with England leading 25-14 at half-time.
After the break, England struggled to put together attacking phases in the opening minutes of the second half before Waldrom burst over for his second try.
The BaaBaas never let up and winger Norman Nelson went over under the uprights after he beat no less than three of England's defenders.
But England showed some class when some immense pressure on the Barbarians resulted in a good try for lock Graham Kitchener.
The South Africans kept up their attack but Wade scored his second against the run of play after scrumhalf Danny Care intercepted on his own goal line.
The home side kept their heads up and attacked with replacement back Ntabeni Dukisa beating Wade on pace and rounding of in the corner.
England hit back through Danny Care, who dove over under the uprights for a easy converted try.
Wade followed it up with his third try of the afternoon right at the death.
Waldrom was named Man of the Match.
Scorers:
SA Barbarians South:
Tries: Jacques Engelbrecht, Hannes Franklin, Norman Nelson, Ntabeni Dukisa
Conversions: Elgar Watts 3
England:
Tries: Thomas Waldrom (2), Christian Wade (3), George Lowe, Graham Kitchener, Danny Care
Conversions: Hodgson 4
Penalties: Hodgson 2
Yellow card: James Haskell (35 mins - repeated infringements)
Teams:
SA Barbarians (South):
15-Jacquin Jansen (Boland); 14-Cornal Hendricks (Boland), 13-Kempie Rautenbach (SWD), 12-Wayne Stevens (EP Kings, captain), 11-Norman Nelson (EP Kings); 10-Elgar Watts (Boland), 9-Boela Abrahams (EP Kings), 8-Jacques Engelbrecht (EP Kings), 7-Shaun Raubenheimer (SWD), 6-Mpho Mbiyozo (EP Kings), 5-David Bulbring (EP Kings), 4-Nolan Clark (Boland), 3-Ross Geldenhuys (Boland), 2-Hannes Franklin (EP Kings), 1-Corne Fourie (Pumas).
Substitutes: 16-Clemen Lewis (Boland), 17-Dean Hopp (SWD), 18-Samora Fihlani (Border), 19-Zandre Jordaan (Boland), 20-Ntando Kebe (Border), 21-Ricardo Croy (Boland), 22-Ntabeni Dukisa (Border).
England:
15-Alex Goode; 14-David Strettle, 13-Anthony Allen, 12-Jordan Turner-Hall, 11-Christian Wade; 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Danny Care; 8-Thomas Waldrom, 7-Carl Fearns, 6-James Haskell; 5-George Robson (captain), 4-Graham Kitchener; 3-Paul Doran Jones, 2-Joe Gray, 1-Matt Mullan
Substitutes: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Rupert Harden, 18-Tom Palmer, 19-Jamie Gibson, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-George Lowe, 22-Nick Abendanon
The BaaBaas forced England to play to the very last minute, putting up a brave fight with only a handful of practise sessions ahead of the encounter.
Barbarians loose forward Jacques Engelbrecht scored in the 4th minute with flyhalf Elgar Watts converting to give the BaaBaas the early lead.
England flyhalf Charlie Hodgson converted a penalty soon there after.
England's first sniff at points inspired the home side to some good attacking play and within the first ten minutes they set up camp twice on England's goal line.
England stuttered through the opening minutes, with Hodgson slotting another penalty to bring the deficit to one point after some good BaaBaas defence.
England eightman Thomas Waldrom scored his side's first five pointer after he burst through some poor tackles by the home side.
Waldrom's try opened the floodgates, with winger Christian Wade running over after recovering his own clever chip-kick.
Winger George Lowe scored soon thereafter with Hodgson converting the third try.
The BaaBaas found some renewed vigour and attacked, with England flanker James Haskell receiving a yellow card for continued infringements at the breakdown area.
With five minutes before half-time, the home side scored their second through hooker Hannes Franklin.
Watts converted with England leading 25-14 at half-time.
After the break, England struggled to put together attacking phases in the opening minutes of the second half before Waldrom burst over for his second try.
The BaaBaas never let up and winger Norman Nelson went over under the uprights after he beat no less than three of England's defenders.
But England showed some class when some immense pressure on the Barbarians resulted in a good try for lock Graham Kitchener.
The South Africans kept up their attack but Wade scored his second against the run of play after scrumhalf Danny Care intercepted on his own goal line.
The home side kept their heads up and attacked with replacement back Ntabeni Dukisa beating Wade on pace and rounding of in the corner.
England hit back through Danny Care, who dove over under the uprights for a easy converted try.
Wade followed it up with his third try of the afternoon right at the death.
Waldrom was named Man of the Match.
Scorers:
SA Barbarians South:
Tries: Jacques Engelbrecht, Hannes Franklin, Norman Nelson, Ntabeni Dukisa
Conversions: Elgar Watts 3
England:
Tries: Thomas Waldrom (2), Christian Wade (3), George Lowe, Graham Kitchener, Danny Care
Conversions: Hodgson 4
Penalties: Hodgson 2
Yellow card: James Haskell (35 mins - repeated infringements)
Teams:
SA Barbarians (South):
15-Jacquin Jansen (Boland); 14-Cornal Hendricks (Boland), 13-Kempie Rautenbach (SWD), 12-Wayne Stevens (EP Kings, captain), 11-Norman Nelson (EP Kings); 10-Elgar Watts (Boland), 9-Boela Abrahams (EP Kings), 8-Jacques Engelbrecht (EP Kings), 7-Shaun Raubenheimer (SWD), 6-Mpho Mbiyozo (EP Kings), 5-David Bulbring (EP Kings), 4-Nolan Clark (Boland), 3-Ross Geldenhuys (Boland), 2-Hannes Franklin (EP Kings), 1-Corne Fourie (Pumas).
Substitutes: 16-Clemen Lewis (Boland), 17-Dean Hopp (SWD), 18-Samora Fihlani (Border), 19-Zandre Jordaan (Boland), 20-Ntando Kebe (Border), 21-Ricardo Croy (Boland), 22-Ntabeni Dukisa (Border).
England:
15-Alex Goode; 14-David Strettle, 13-Anthony Allen, 12-Jordan Turner-Hall, 11-Christian Wade; 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Danny Care; 8-Thomas Waldrom, 7-Carl Fearns, 6-James Haskell; 5-George Robson (captain), 4-Graham Kitchener; 3-Paul Doran Jones, 2-Joe Gray, 1-Matt Mullan
Substitutes: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Rupert Harden, 18-Tom Palmer, 19-Jamie Gibson, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-George Lowe, 22-Nick Abendanon