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Wales 28-31 Barbarians

Sport | Richard Gurner | Published: 18:08, Saturday June 4th, 2011.

Wales suffered a last-minute heart-break after the Barbarians snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Warren Gatland’s men took an early lead in the 130 anniversary match thanks to George North’s third try in five appearances but they trailed 19-14.

Iosefa Tekori, Isa Nacewa and Sergio Parisse all touched down for the Baa-Baas while Morgan Stoddart raced clear for Wales.

Wales looked to have put themselves back on the road to victory with tries second-half tries from Mike Phillips and Aled Brew.

But Mathieu Bastareaud and Isa Nacewa pounced for a pair tries in the final 10 minutes to secure a sensational comeback.

There was a minute’s silence ahead of the match in respect of the four victims of the Pembroke oil refinery tragedy.

But following the kick-off the Baa-Baas enjoyed the brighter start and camped themselves deep in Wales territory. But Gatland’s men showed great resilience typified by centurion Jones who held Joe Van Niekerk at bay when a try had looked inevitable.

And it was Wales that grabbed the game’s opening try following their first real venture into Baa-Baas territory. The ball was spread to Gavin Henson, making his first appearance in the red since March 2009, and he fired a pin-point pass to North for his third Welsh try in five matches. Jones added the extras to had Wales a 7-0 lead on the 10-minute mark.

But typically the famous invitational side demonstrated their attacking flair with a fine try following a counter-attack on seven minutes.

Brock James intercepted Jones’ short-pass and broke through he then fed Van Niekerk before the South African flicked an audacious pass to Tekori to score. James hit the post with his conversion but the visitors quickly added a second try.

The Baa-Baas worked the overlap from inside the Welsh twenty-two and Nacewa raced over to score. James added the extras to hand the visitors a 12-7 lead.

But Wales quickly regained their advantage when Stoddart intercepted Cardiff Blues captain Paul Tito’s pass to race 60 metres and score. Jones again slotted the conversion to put Wales back in front at 14-12.

But it was the Baa-Baas that had the final say in the opening half and Parisse charged over from the back of a dominant scrum on 34 minutes to restore his side’s lead. Tillous-Borde dissected the posts to hand the Baa-Baas a 19-14 lead at the interval.

Things did not start well for Wales with Aled Brew shown yellow for a high-tackle within minutes of the restart. But Tekori quickly followed Brew to the sin-bin for a professional foul as Wales pressed.

Warren Gatland’s men continued to heap the pressure on the Baa-Baas with only the wily Welsh veteran Martyn Williams keeping his compatriots out.

But Wales restored their lead on the 53rd minute when Phillips drove over from close-range. Jones was again on target with the boot to hand Wales a slender 21-19 lead.

They then landed what appeared a hammer-blow on the 65th minute when Brew crashed through Iestyn Thomas to touch-down. Again, in his last action of the game, centurion Jones nailed the conversion to put Wales in a 28-19 lead.

But with less than 10-minutes to go Willie Mason demonstrated why Toulon fought to sign him. He created a moment of magic to release Thomas who in turn fed Bastareaud.

Then with the final play of the game Nacewa raced clear for a second try to steal the win and James slotted the extras.

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