Sir Clive bemoans 'restrictions'

England coach could not field his best for the Baa-baas

Coach Clive Woodward was a frustrated man on Sunday after England were convincingly beaten 32-12 by a star-studded Barbarians team, but he questioned the point of playing the Baa-baas if he did not have the use of his full-strength team.

Woodward was forced to pick an under-strength England outfit for the match with a number of the regular line-up involved in the Zurich Premiership Final between London Wasps and Bath on Saturday.

His resources were limited further by the Wild Card Final contested by the Leicester Tigers and the Sale Sharks on the same day.

"The Barbarians game would be a wonderful fixture if we could play with our full-strength team," said Woodward.

"My job is to pick the strongest side I can and I don't get excited when we are restricted because of other matches.

"We've done our best in putting a team together."

The England outfit were completely outplayed by the Baa-baas side - that boasted a massive 687 Test caps in the starting XV alone - and the veterans took advantage of their nervous counterparts.

"That was a strong Barbarians line-up. They are used to playing against full-strength sides and we certainly weren't that," said Woodward.

Baa-baas coach Bob Dwyer, while sympathising with Woodward, said that with the structure of the English Premiership it was almost impossible for England to field their strongest line-up.

"It was always going to be difficult for England because of the tour coming up and the Premiership games on Saturday," said Dwyer.

"We played well and it was a tall order for guys who are just embarking on their international careers to face a side with hundreds of caps.

"On the positive side of things it has given them a taste of what it takes to be an international.

"For us to play against a Test side which has been playing together for months would be a different matter, though. Something between the two is the ideal answer."