And England’s lack of experience was brutally exposed by a side which boasted 688 caps and included international veterans such as Jason Leonard, Brian O’Driscoll, Mark Andrews and Taine Randell.

“The Barbarians game would be a wonderful fixture if we could play with our full-strength team like Wales did in midweek,” said the England boss.

“My job is to pick the strongest side I can and I don’t get excited when we are being restricted because other matches are on.

“We’ve done our best in putting a team together. That was a strong Barbarians line-up. They are used to playing against full-strength sides and we certainly weren’t that.”

Barbarians coach Bob Dwyer sympathised with Woodward’s predicament but insisted playing against England’s full Test line-up is not a viable option.

“It was always going to be difficult for England because of the tour coming up and the Premiership games on Saturday,” said the Australian, who guided the Wallabies to World Cup glory in 1991.

“We played well and it was a tall order for guys who are just embarking on their international careers to face a side with hundreds of caps. On the positive side of things it has given them a taste of what it takes to be an international.

“For us to play against a Test side which has been playing together for months would be a different matter, though. Something between the two is the ideal answer.”

Former England prop Leonard – saying his Twickenham farewell after announcing his retirement from all rugby earlier this month – initiated the rout with a try after just three minutes.

Further touchdowns from Shane Horgan, Bruce Reihana, Bobby Skinstad and Malcolm O’Kelly helped the Barbarians to a handsome victory as England found themselves hopelessly outgunned.

Only the boot of Dave Walder gave the scoreline some respectability, with the Newcastle fly-half completing four of his five shots at goal as England struggled to create try-scoring opportunities.

Woodward’s defensive kingpin Dave Larder admitted it had been a tough afternoon.

“We only had a couple of training sessions before the match so it was always going to be a trying time for our defence. We stuck to our task well and showed a good attitude but there were some hard lessons to be learnt,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wasps prop Tim Payne became the eighth player from his club to join the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia yesterday.

He has been included as an additional player as cover for Bath prop David Flatman who will still go on the tour but has not yet recovered from an Achilles injury. This brings the England squad of players to 31.

The 25-year-old Payne, a loose-head prop for Wasps, has made 21 appearances for his club after signing from Cardiff. England leave for New Zealand on June 2.