Barbarians 25 New Zealand 18

The rugby union game between Barbarians and New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday Dec 5 2009.

The Barbarians, inspired by a hat-trick of tries by Springboks wing Bryan Habana, ensured New Zealand’s autumn tour finished on a losing note in a hugely-entertaining game at Twickenham on Saturday.

Habana’s third try four minutes from time, after crossing the line twice in the first-half, proved to be the decisive blow against a New Zealand side who began the match with just two survivors from their thrilling victory over France in Marseille last Saturday.

The contest may not have lived up to the unforgettable encounter between these two sides in Cardiff back in 1973, but after an autumn of pretty dire Test rugby, but there were enough thrills on show to send the Twickenham crowd home happy.

After relatively low-key opening, during which Stephen Donald opened the scoring with a penalty that was booed by the Twickenham crowd, the game exploded into life with a length-of-the-pitch try by South Africa wing Bryan Habana in the 11th minute - the first time the All Blacks line had been crossed in over 400 minutes Test match rugby.

All Black hooker Corey Flynn had driven deep into the Barbarians 22 but when he placed the ball back it bounced into the hands of Drew Mitchell who raced clear before floating a perfectly-weighted inside pass to Habana. Matt Giteau landed the touchline conversion.

As the game began to open up, New Zealand however were able to regain the lead when after a sharp midfield incision by former Sale player Luke McAlister, some swift handling and direct running created the overlap for Ben Smith to score his side’s opening try in the 25th minute, with Donald adding the conversion.

The try did little to stem the attacking ambitions of the Barbarians however, with Jamie Roberts and Jacque Fourie, opponents on the Lions tour forging a dangerous midfield combination and Giteau bringing some control to the fractured play.

And despite a wonderful first-half defensive display by All Black captain Richie McCaw, the Baa-Baas were able to steal the lead at the interval with a second try by Habana, who intercepted a pass by Donald and after juggling with the ball he had the pace to race clear, with Giteau again converting.

The action continued unchecked after the break, with Giteau’s cross-field chip to Rocky Elsom almost creating another score but the Wallaby No 8 was bundled into touch at the cornerflag.

The All Blacks could have regained the lead if they had been able to find support for a break by Brendon Leonard while it took a brave tackle by Habana to stop the scrum-half from powering over from a back row move from the base of an attacking scrum.

But after a penalty by Giteau in the 57th minute significantly gave the Barbarians a seven-point advantage and it took a timely intercept by Smith to prevent Fourie delivering a try-scoring pass after a strong drive by Roberts.

The All Blacks set up a tense finale when lock Anthony Boric powered over for a try despite the best efforts of Morne Steyn to prevent him grounding the ball after break by McAlister up the touchline had given New Zealand momentum.

But with Donald having been substituted, Mike Delany missed a relatively simple conversion and Habana landed the killer blow as first Giteau and then Morne Steyn drew the All Blacks cover defence before the Springbok wing was released to glide over for his hat-trick.

Delany responded with a penalty but it was left to Steyn, the man who condemned the Lions to a Test series defeat with his monstrous long-range penalty in Pretoria, to close the game out with a penalty after a huge scrum by the Baa Baas.