England scrape draw against Australian Barbarians

Australian Barbarians 28 England 28

England escaped with a draw from their opening tour match against the Australian Barbarians after staging a late comeback.

Teenage full-back James O’Connor raced in for a hat-trick before being replaced early in the second half as Australia’s second string opened a 25-13 lead.

Dan Ward-Smith and Matt Banahan followed up Lee Mears’ first-half try and 13 points from Olly Barkley edged England back into the lead.

Berrick Barnes drew the scores level with a penalty straight from the restart - and would have clinched victory for the Barbarians had his long-range effort with the last kick of the game not dropped wide.