Barbarians in top gear

Hosea Gear, the former New Zealand wing, scored two of the Barbarians’ five tries during a 39-29 victory over an inexperienced England team at Twickenham on Monday.

A virtual third-choice England line-up did well to go into half-time 18-14 ahead, despite tries by Kiwi centre Benson Stanley and Argentina full-back Juan Martin Hernandez for the Barbarians.

Georgia No 8 Mamuka Gorgodze stretched over early in the second half to give the Barbarians a lead they would not relinquish, and Gear added two more in the final 16 minutes. England’s tries came through Dave Ewers, Charlie Sharples and Henry Slade.