Why did they play English anthem before All Blacks-Barbarians?

New Zealand players stand for the national anthems at Twickenham. Photosport

When the Barbarians lined up for their clash against the All Blacks at Twickenham yesterday morning not one Englishman was among them.

Which makes the decision to play God Save the Queen after God Defend New Zealand an odd one.

The game may have been played 17km south west of Buckingham Palace but it took place outside of the window for the end of year test schedule with European club rugby taking place over the weekend.

That meant the Barbarians where stacked with Southern Hemisphere players. There was 10 Kiwis starting with the Baabaas and another three on the bench.

The decision to play the English anthem, sung by Farrell Smith, certainly confused the commentators.

"The players make their way over for the national anthem. And there will only be one obviously," said Sky comments man Justin Marshall.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, who has coached the Baabaas previously, lamented the absence of UK players in the game.

"There's definitely a place for it. There's a long history of Barbarians rugby that has inspired people. The hardest problem is getting it to fit into the calendar.

"We had a national anthem out there and there wasn't one person from England in the team. It would've been nice if we could get some players from this part of the world but because the calendar doesn't allow it doesn't happen. That's the big bugbear I have with it. You want it to be a truly global thing."

Barbarians coach Robbie Deans lost battles to get any homegrown UK-based players released for this fixture. But he offered some advice to the likes of England coach Eddie Jones, who Deans inferred put pressure on his squad not to participate, about the refreshing spinoffs the Baabaas can provide.

"If coaches can look a little bit beyond at the benefits that come out of it they'll actually be the benefactors over time too," Deans said, pointing out England's players could have soaked up the experience ahead of a showdown with the All Blacks this time next year.

"It's a great opportunity for them to experience the level. In a year's time there's going to be 23 of them out there so there's been an opportunity missed because some of them could have had a taste.

"This is the way rugby should be regardless of what competition you're in. It's the players' game and sometimes coaches forget that. We produce stress when in actual fact if we retained this element the players would rise to the level you want. There's a lot of lessons in this sort of experience.

"It captures the essence of rugby."