Australia 49 defeated Barbarians 35
@ Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Wed 28th November 2001

The news is somewhat better. At the very least, we can head into the looming offseason having seen some entertaining and, importantly, enterprising rugby on this otherwise frustrating tour of Europe.

Having said that, the signs early on in the first half were not overly encouraging. Down 14-nil, the Wallabies seemed unable, though not necessarily unwilling, to adopt the more free-flowing style of rugby synonymous with Barbarians fixtures.

Their opposition, however, was throwing the ball around with spectacular abandon. Few set plays. Get the ball out wide and go go go. And that tactic had the Wallabies on the collective back foot.

To their credit, the Wallabies eventually found that spark that had been missing from their previous matches this tour. We started to see a bit of individual flair as these Wallaby fringe players threw the playbook away, backed their own ability, and reacted spontaneously to opportunities as they arose. Remember that only four of this starting XV also started against Wales - George Gregan, Toutai Kefu, Elton Flatley and Ben Tune.

It's tempting to question why we didn't start with more of these enthusiastic players against England, France and Wales, but we musn't get too carried away. The Barbarians, for all their flair, are still an eclectic mix of stars, esteemed retirees, second stringers, and - yes - even a league convert. They had just two training sessions together. So this was a match that we should have won, even with our second string side. And the reality is that our Test XV would probably have found similar momentum against the Barbarians.

I could analyse the match in more detail, but really there's little point. It was simply a very entertaining game of rugby union, played in the spirit in which the game, in an ideal world, should always be played. As was frequently pointed out throughout the match, it was just so darn refreshing to see an entire match without a single penalty goal. If only this could be the template for the game of rugby union. If only all games provided these fireworks - rugby union would be completely unstoppable.

The interesting thing is that the future success of the Wallabies could quite possible hinge on whether Eddie Jones can restructure the team's play to embrace more of the principles evident on the field against the Barbarians - less emphasis on predictable set plays, playing the ball at pace, allowing room for players to express themselves.

Deserving of particular praise are Scott Staniforth, Chris Latham, Ben Tune, Bill Young and Bredan Cannon, all of whom had fantastic games. With Joe Roff's imminent sabbatical, Staniforth and Tune have staked a significant claim for next year. Likewise Latham, who has proven once and for all that he is a fullback, not a winger - and Matt Burke will have to lift his attacking play to keep Latham out next year. Bill Young will be the Wallabies' starting loosehead prop in 2002, as he would have been this year had he not been injured late in the Super12. And Cannon played superbly, proving that he will be a more than adequate back-up to Jeremy Paul.

Finally, Mat Rogers showed us enough in his 30 minutes on the field to suggest that he will be a major asset to Australian rugby over the next few years. His positional play, kicking and defensive work were of the highest order. It was a shame his team mates weren't able to give him more ball to work with in attack. He should see plenty of that next year with the Waratahs and the Wallabies.

So roll on 2002. Change is in the wind.

- Dan Fowell