Barbarian ethos 'still alive and well'

Suggestions of indifference to the All Blacks final tour game against the Barbarians have been dismissed by players and rival coaches Graham Henry and Bob Dwyer.

For the bit-part All Blacks it is a chance to stretch their legs, an opportunity for the selection staff to gauge how all but Jono Gibbes and Luke McAlister of the extended 33-strong group, scrub up in a match.

And there is the not insignificant revenue the New Zealand Rugby Union will receive.

For each of the Baabaas there is the honour of representing the famous club while pocketing a cheque of about $30,000, although Dwyer tried to assure the media that the match payment was the last thing on the players' minds.

He also countered the view that Sunday's game at Twickenham was just a cynical money-making exercise.

Every match, he countered, was an excuse to make money. He cited the revenue collected by the RFU last weekend when England hosted the Wallabies with 75,000 spectators at Twickenham.

The former Wallaby coach believed the game still carried the original Barbarians' ethos, which was to celebrate the sport of rugby. He said the game provided some relief for players from the relentless intensity of the international calendar.

"Mentally it gives the players a new lease of life, the Barbarians is the return of the attitude of going down to the park with your mates to play a game of footy."

If people became worried about where players were picked from it would destroy the philosophy behind the Barbarians.

Detractors of the match maintain it is an amateur relic.

Youngsters who used to be picked after being overlooked by their national selectors do not exist any more.

They have all been headhunted by their late teens and bound up in contracts like those which preclude players from Europe being involved this Sunday.

Even the style of game which used to be the preserve of the Barbarians is favoured by most international sides.

A crowd of about 60,000 will pay to see the game, despite some disappointment that the All Black stars are not involved.