Tandy hails 'brilliant hit-out' as Wales edge Barbarians 33-31 and North bids farewell with two tries

Wales edged past the Barbarians 33-31 at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, with head coach Steve Tandy declaring the narrow victory a “brilliant hit-out” ahead of next weekend’s Nations Championship clash with Fiji in Cardiff.

The result was made more significant by the absence of 13 England and France-based players, whose clubs were not obliged to release them for a fixture falling outside World Rugby’s official window. Despite the disruption, Wales were never headed, with Dan Edwards crossing twice and contributing 14 points, while Kieran Hardy, Reuben Morgan-Williams and Ellis Mee also touched down.

“There’s lots to learn and get better at, but getting the win is great for us,” Tandy said. “I thought we probably could have put more distance in it in the first half, but it’s a brilliant hit-out for us. There’s going to be moments that you can be in really good positions and something happens. It’s great preparation.”

The victory also marked back-to-back wins for Wales for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup, following their Six Nations finale triumph over Italy in March.

Tandy received a further boost from the returns of Cardiff second-row Teddy Williams, absent since dislocating his foot last October, and Gloucester-bound flanker Jac Morgan, who had not featured for Wales since dislocating a shoulder against Argentina in November. Morgan is also a British and Irish Lions tourist.

“You can train as much as you want and the boys have worked really hard, but there’s nothing quite like feeling it in this heat against a team that are going to keep the ball,” Tandy added.

The afternoon’s most poignant moment came courtesy of George North, who came off the bench as a second-half Barbarians replacement and scored two tries before adding a conversion with the final act of the match — a fitting coda to a career that spanned 121 Wales caps and 47 tries between 2010 and 2024, as well as two British and Irish Lions tours in 2013 and 2017.

“I thought my last game had happened,” the 34-year-old told S4C. “I had a phone call from Robbie Deans asking how my body was, he asked me to play and this week has been special. I wasn’t ready to be honest when I came on. I was thinking just keep hold of the ball, take a deep breath and go. To get the chance to play today with my sons in the crowd who were so excited to see their dad play again.”

Wales now face Fiji in Cardiff next Saturday in what is officially classed as an away fixture, before concluding the first phase of the inaugural Nations Championship with trips to Argentina and South Africa.