Six-try England celebrate in style
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England flyhalf Paul Grayson goes over for the try that put England ahead at Twickenham.
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LONDON, England -- England rounded off their World Cup celebrations by beating the New Zealand Barbarians 42-17 in an entertaining yet bruising encounter in front of 74,000 adoring fans at Twickenham on Saturday.
Both sides ran the ball from all areas despite the wet and windy conditions, with Ben Cohen claiming two of England's six tries.
The Baa-baas had led 10-3 after lock Troy Flavell capitalized on weak English cover to go over.
England, though, who began with only four of their World Cup final XV, stormed back as flyhalf Paul Grayson turned down a simple penalty to punt to the right corner, winger Ben Cohen outjumping two defenders to touch down.
Grayson then barged over following a searing midfield break by centre Stuart Abbott to give England a 13-10 half-time lead.
They dominated thereafter as the Baa-Baas tired, with Cohen crashing over from a five-meter penalty, prop Matt Stevens running in and winger James Simpson-Daniel sneaking over on the left.
Center Keith Lowen scored late on for the Barbarians before Mike Tindall replied for England.
The game often resembled exhibition rugby but there were also plenty of serious confrontations, with England flanker Richard Hill twice forced off with blood pouring from his face, the second time after a punch.
England's full World Cup squad paraded the World Cup around Twickenham after the match and predictably received the biggest cheers of the evening.
With the famous Twickenham turf covered by an enormous 100 meter long flag of St George, Johnson, fresh but unhappy from playing in Leicester's Premiership defeat by Northampton earlier in the day, led the parade.
Jonny Wilkinson, unavailable for selection due to a shoulder injury, was also at the heart of things as the home fans took their turn to pay homage to the men who lifted the William Webb Ellis trophy in Sydney last month.
There were more cheers when prop Jason Leonard was given a special award to mark his world record 113th cap while Wilkinson and Kyran Bracken received silver caps for reaching the 50-cap mark during the World Cup.
The event marked the end of a remarkable month of celebration since England became the first northern hemisphere team to win the trophy when they beat Australia 20-17 with Wilkinson's drop-goal in the last minute of extra time.
