Two nights on the town and a fancy dress party almost paid off for the Barbarians.
For 53 minutes, rugby’s great entertainers, who only assembled on Monday, led the All Blacks and showed no sign of hangovers.
They played footloose and fancy free – unsettling the All Blacks who are used to risk-averse, robotic and structured Test opponents.
Ngani Laumape started the revival when his powerful effort under the posts allowed the All Blacks to go back level
Hooker Ross Harris (pictured scoring) then went over after Sam Cane had given the All Blacks the lead at Twickenham
The exhibition side dominated possession and territory in the early exchanges – winning the collisions, keeping the ball and making the All Blacks look like the side who had just met each other.
Scrum-half Andy Ellis, one of 10 Kiwis in the Barbarians XV, directed play. And his half-back partner, Richie Mo’unga opened the scoring after nine minutes when he looped down the right.
Steve Hansen’s side, meanwhile, looked disjointed and startled by the BaaBaas magic.
Skipper Beauden Barrett was stripped of possession in the tackle and Vaea Fifita – after a 50-metre break – was not on the same wavelength as his support runners as a sure-fire try went begging.
All Kiwi eyes were on flanker Stephen Luatua, who turned his back on the All Blacks to join Bristol. The 26-year-old will face Rotherham in the Championship next week but he was immense at Twickenham, intercepting TJ Perenara’s pass to set up George Bridge for the second.
Suddenly, the party boys were 10-0 up, and providing New Zealand with a needed workout ahead of their autumn campaign. The All Blacks had made 58 tackles to 18 inside 15 minutes.
But Perenara made amends for his error three minutes later. He collected a slick offload from Waisake Naholo to squeeze over – although it was not enough to reverse the flow of pressure.
The All Blacks perform their traditional Haka ahead of their clash with the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon
An early box kick by Barbarians scrum-half Andrew Ellis is almost charged down by the oncoming All Blacks defence
All Blacks’ blindside flanker Vaea Fifita bursts through midfield in a tremendous sprint for the lined but is hauled down
Barbarians’ fly-half Richie Mo’unga — also a New Zealander facing his parent country — crossed first to give his side the lead
Baa-baas centre Harold Vorster sends a low kick down the line as the visitors are made to put in the hard yards at Twickenham
George Bridge, a Kiwi, celebrates as he finishes off a neat move to cross for the Barbarians’ second try of the afternoon
New Zealand wing Seta Tamanivalu is hit hard in the tackle as the visitors try to hit back after the Baa-baas’ blistering start
True to tradition, the Barbarians continued to run from deep.
They threw quick lineouts and opted for running rugby, rather than kicking, at every turn. Harold Vorster channelled their off-the-cuff spirit and, after 30 minutes, Sam Carter extended the lead.
Suddenly, the clamours for clamours for this game to be replaced by England vs New Zealand were forgotten.
Naholo proved a constant threat and, once again, the winger turned provider when his offload set up Fifita before half time. Then the All Blacks stepped towards Test intensity in the second half.
They started to controlled the structure and intensity and – despite the efforts of brilliant Kwagga Smith – and eventually broke the resistance.
Three tries in six minutes from Ngani Luamape, Sam Cane and Nathan Harris sealed the victory – although the Barbarians had the final toast when Bridge scored with the last play of the game.
Scrum-half TJ Perenara then stops the early onslaught as he goes over after sharp work by Waisake Naholo in the corner
Tamanivalu skips beyond Julian Savea, a man whose extremely big boots he is trying to fill in an All Blacks jersey
New Zealand back row Fifita then bundled over in the corner just before half time as the All Blacks get back into the tie
The All Blacks then came blistering out of the blocks in the second half, as Laumape’s try started the comeback
Beauden Barrett’s conversion ensured the visitors went level at 17-17 following Laumape’s 52nd-minute score
Naholo then burst after the Barbarians failed to gather the restart and he set up the opportunity for Cane to go over
Cane escaped the tackle of Bridge to start the wheels in motion for a stunning second-half turnaround at Twickenham
Harris then crossed for the All Blacks to put their minds at ease and ensure they came away from Twickenham with a win