Wales beat Barbarians as North signs off in style

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency Image caption, Wales fly-half Dan Edwards scored two tries By Gareth Griffiths BBC Sport Wales Published 12 minutes ago Barbarians (5) 31 Tries: Koch, North 2, Nankivell, Arata Cons: Plummer 2, North Wales (14) 33 Tries: Hardy, Edwards 2, Morgan-Williams, Mee Cons: Edwards 2, Costelow 2 Wales warmed up for their Nations Championship campaign with a 33-31 victory against Barbarians at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. In sweltering sunshine with temperatures reaching 32C (90F), Wales fly-half Dan Edwards scored 14 points, including two tries, while there were further scores from scrum-halves Kieran Hardy and Reuben Morgan-Williams and wing Ellis Mee. But the day belonged to Wales great George North who bowed out in style in his final game before retirement with two Barbarians tries. After coming on as a second-half replacement, North's opening try came with his first touch and he also added a conversion with the final kick of the game. South Africa prop Vincent Koch, Munster centre Alex Nankivell and Uruguay scrum-half Santiago Arata also scored for the invitational side. FT Barbarians 31-33 Wales - Wales hang on but North headlines in last game Phillips emulates father to make Barbarians history Published 23 hours ago Watch: Memories are made of Wales v Barbarians Published 2 days ago Wales had enjoyed a morale-boosting Six Nations win against Italy in March. This - uncapped - victory represented successive wins for the the first time since the 2023 World Cup but Wales know there is a lot to improve before the start of the Nations Championship. This fixture was staged outside World Rugby's official window so Wales' team was picked solely from the four domestic regions with Tandy missing 12 English and French based players. Scrum-half Tomos Williams, lock Dafydd Jenkins, props Nicky Smith and Rhys Carre and Louis Rees-Zammit will come back into the equation for the Nations Championship start next week when Wales face Fiji at Cardiff City Stadium. Tandy will name his squad for that tournament early next week which also includes away matches in Argentina and South Africa. Empty seats but vital hit out for Wales Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency Image caption, Wales played South Africa at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham in 2024 Watching Wales play in front of so few fans at the home of English rugby was surreal. The top two tiers were closed with a sparse crowd of under 20,000 in an 82,000-capacity stadium, and a first-half "Mexican Wave" indicated the supporters were not always fully engaged. It was an uncapped international with the double-header alonsgide the women's side being played in south-west London and not in Cardiff, where heavy metal group Metallica were playing at the Principality Stadium the following day. As a rugby exercise it was worthwhile, with many Welsh players having not had a game for more than a month. Tandy's side needed this test before the Nations Championship and the Barbarian