Wales 28 - 31 Barbarians: Baa-Baas work their magic

The Barbarians are nothing if not sticklers for tradition, and they certainly looked like they had celebrated last weekend's win over England in the inimitable Baa-Baas' manner.

The invitation side looked dead and buried when trailing Wales by 28-19 with just eight minutes remaining, but they somehow cleared the alcoholic fug from their heads and conjured up two tries before the final whistle to dent Welsh pride.

The final touchdown was typical Barbarians stuff. Attacking from their own 22, Sergio Parisse and Willie Mason both offloaded brilliantly to send full-back Ica Nacewa on his way and Dublin's favourite Fijian still had 60 yards to run before flopping exhausted over the Welsh try line with Morgan Stoddart too late to stop him. There were less than 30 seconds left on the clock.

Ahead of this match the focus was on two contrasting Welsh players. Popular fly-half Stephen Jones was winning his 100th cap and led his team on to the field to mark the achievement.

The other more controversial selection by Warren Gatland was Gavin Henson, who played his first game for his country since the 2009 Six Nations.

Jones was his usual dependable self and his immaculate kicking appeared to have won the game for Wales, but Henson did little to justify his presence with the exception of throwing one scoring pass for George North that must have travelled at least one metre forward. Henson also found himself the victim of one perfectly legitimate teeth-loosening tackle from Seru Rabeni that even elicited an admiring comment from match referee Alain Rolland.

The midfield leaked like a rusty bucket and if they offer their World Cup opponents the same time and space, Wales will be back home before the knock-out stages.

The veteran Martyn Williams belted out the Welsh national anthem despite playing against the country he has represented 98 times, but his performance probably wasn't enough to persuade the national coaches to take him to New Zealand, especially when the Tongan-born breakaway Toby Faletau enjoyed such an impressive debut. The young Dragons No.8 looks like he will be a permanent fixture in the back row for the foreseeable future.

On a day that was made for running rugby, the match had too many errors to be a classic, although the ending was hard to beat for pure drama. The Barbarians played a little too fast and loose and the turnover count was high on both sides as a result, with at least two tries coming courtesy of interceptions.

Wales also looked to move the ball at every opportunity so the main difference between the two teams on the day was the set piece where the Baa-Baas should have made more of their obvious advantage.With Kiwi giant Carl Hayman enjoying his afternoon's shift against a Welsh debutant in Ryan Bevington, the home team needed a good line-out but instead it was working only fitfully.

Wales opened through North, from that forward pass, and Morgan Stoddart latched on to a loose pass from Paul Tito before running 70 yards for their second score. After the break scrum-half Mike Phillips drove over from short range like the excellent flanker he is and Aled Brew added another from the same distance.

The Barbarian first half scores came from Tekori, after a Brock James interception, Nacewa and Parisse from a five-yard scrum. After the break Wales enjoyed all the play until those final few minutes. Mathieu Bastareaud scored on 72 minutes and Nacewa's second touchdown in the dying seconds turned this game on its head.

Scorers: Wales: Tries: North, Stoddart, Phillips, Brew. Cons: Jones 4. Barbarians: Tries: Tekori, Nacewa 2, Parisse, Bastareaud. Cons: James 3.

Wales: Stoddart, North, Davies, Henson, Brew, S Jones, Phillips, Bevington, Bennett, James, R Jones, Charteris, Lydiate, Warburton, Faletau. Not Used: Burns, Andrews, A Jones, Turnbull, Knoyle, Priestland, Williams.

Barbarians: Nacewa, Sackey, Rabeni, Bastareaud, Howlett, James, Tillous-Borde, Thomas, Bruno, Hayman, Tekori, Tito, Van Niekerk, M Williams, Parisse. Not Used: Ghiraldini, Kubriashvili, Lund, Smith, L Williams, Mason, Baby.

Referee: A Rolland. Attendance: 48,632.