Defiant Springboks trample Baa-baas

However, their readiness to enter into the spirit of the occasion did not quite last until the end.

When it came to closing the last avenue open to their opponents, the tourists incurred the wrath of a large section of the crowd, thousands hollering their disapproval at the sight of Bram van Straaten taking meticulous care over lining up his team's solitary penalty attempt, an uncharitable and unnecessary postscript to the lavish entertainment they provided.

Once it had bisected the posts, thereby guaranteeing immunity from the Baa-baas digging deep into their memory bank of wondrous tries, Van Straaten raised a triumphant arm to the crowd followed by an exaggerated yawn in mocked response. The Springboks had taken care of business on the field just as they had done off it.

Before agreeing to stay on the treadmill for another week, they had at least ensured the extra match would be worth their while, hence a fee reputed to be £7,000-a-man. Whatever the amount, they gave the fans a run for their money by turning the match upside down in accounting for six of the 10 tries.

Nobody would pretend that it had the intensity of a Test match but by the end Dallaglio, for one, had the marks on his face to prove that it was competitive enough when it mattered, competitive in his case being a euphemism for a slashing set of South African studs after being caught lying on the wrong side of the ball.

By then he and his largely Australasian Baa-baas had surrendered an imposing lead built on four thrilling first half tries, finished off by the peerless Ireland centre Brian O'Driscoll, the long-haired little Argentinian Augustin Pichot, the bounding Wallaby Chris Latham and, inevitably, the All Black with the built-in turbo, Christian Cullen.

The closed roof kept out the nasty weather but the experience will have given Dallaglio a fair idea of what to expect when he next sets foot on the same threadbare pitch for England at the start of the Six Nations in February. He can rest assured that the roof will be kept open, even if a tempest is raging overhead.

'With a full house, you can guarantee a tempest anyway,' he said. 'If you have a roof it makes sense to use it but I am sure the debate will rage on before England come here in the New Year.'

The real point, though, was not about the roof but about the match itself. Far from being regarded as an anachronism of the amateur era, the Barbarians traditional fixture against Southern Hemisphere opponents still has a future and a prosperous one at that. Seventy thousand people can't be wrong.