The 40,246 crowd were treated to a competitive match in which the northern side, put together in the middle of the RBS 6 Nations championship, struggled to counter the class of the South - led by Australia's captain George Gregan.

All Black skipper Tana Umaga had his much anticipated appearance limited to just 22 minutes before he retired after taking a knock - but that was long enough for him to open the scoring with a 12th-minute try.

Australian full-back Chris Latham and Newcastle's Samoan Semo Sititi touched down twice each with their side's other tries coming from Samoan winger Brian Lima and the South African pair of flankers Schalk Burger and centre Jacque Fourie.

The pick of their tries was Sititi's first in the 51st minute when he applied the finish after Fijian winger Sireli Bobo's dazzling run split the North defence wide open for Latham to supply the final pass.

New Zealand fly-half Andrew Mehrtens produced a glittering kicking display, landing all his six conversions before Latham took over to kick the seventh.

The North replied with tries from England's second choice hooker Andy Titterrell, Worcester's former England flanker Pat Sanderson and French winger Mirco Bergamasco.
David Humphreys and Ceri Sweeney kicked a conversion each.

The quality of the South's fast-moving backs meant the North were always playing catch-up but Ollie Smith, Leicester's 22-year-old centre, took the opportunity to further his international claims.

Smith, aiming for promotion from the England bench to the starting line-up before the RBS 6 Nations finishes, impressed both in defence and attack.

Out-of-favour England winger Ben Cohen suffered a double blow late in the game.

The World Cup winner was denied a try after the fourth official considered the video evidence - much to the annoyance of the pro-England crowd - and then he retired after taking a blow in the face.

The match, watched by an estimated worldwide TV audience of 160 million, is expected to raise anything between £2million and £4million for the UN World Food Programme Appeal.