But the charges were dropped on procedural grounds when the England management team successfully argued Australian citing commissioner Scott Nowland was not an “independent authority”.

The decision came hot on the heels of England’s lucky escape on the pitch as Barbarians fly-half Berrick Barnes missed a last minute penalty after teenage full back James O'Connor had scored a hat-trick of tries.

But England coach Martin Johnson refused to be downbeat despite a shaky start to the tour.

“Both camps think it’s a four-round fight and it’s level after the first round,” said Johnson, whose side face the first of their two Tests with the Wallabies on June 12.

“We did a lot of good things but compounded some errors which put us into a lot of strife.

“When we were 12 points down we had to score next and we did that. Maybe we should have won the game at the end, with the chances we had.”