England capitalised on some more flawed local scrummaging to beat the Australian Barbarians 15-9 in their first victory in three matches this tour.

No tries were scored in a dour match which produced precious few scraps of entertainment for the 9000 plus crowd on a chilly Tuesday night at Bluetongue Stadium.

Neither side played with any fluency and just as the Wallabies struggled in the scrummaging department during Saturday's first Test in Perth, the Barbarians were constantly on the back foot in that area.

If they weren't going backwards, they were conceding scrum penalties, eight in total awarded by referee Steve Walsh.

From the last two indiscretions in that area, replacement Olly Barkley kicked penalty goals to help overturn a 9-6 deficit.

Few players on either side enhanced their prospects of playing in Saturday's second Test at ANZ Stadium.

One player who could well earn a promotion is hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, who played just under an hour in two spells after missing the first two Tests of the season with shoulder and ankle issues.

The Waratahs' hooker came off in the 42nd minute with a minor leg twinge.

However, he returned to the field with just over 10 minutes remaining in the unfamiliar position of tighthead prop to replace Pekahou Cowan, who strained a calf.

Few of the Barbarians' forwards improved their Test prospects, though wingers Lachie Turner and Nick Cummins ran with enthusiasm, five-eighth Kurtley Beale showed the odd flash of flair and centre Anthony Faingaa defended stoutly.

Five-eighth Charlie Hodgson kicked two early penalties to give England a 6-0 lead.

Berrick Barnes, who replaced hamstring injury victim Will Chambers, levelled the score 6-6 by half time.

England enjoyed almost total territorial domination in the first quarter but couldn't convert some multi-phase play into tries.

The Barbarians came into the game in the second quarter - courtesy of a string of penalties - and almost crossed on a couple of occasions, with Beale making one electrifying break from deep inside his own half.

Barclay's boot and the frailties of the Australian scrum proved decisive in the final quarter, as neither team could muster the inspiration or guile to score a try.

"It was a pretty ugly contest, the sooner we move on, the better," Wallabies and Australian Barbarians coach Robbie Deans told reporters.

Deans acknowledged the frequent scrum penalties against his team prevented them from establishing any meaningful momentum.

He said he Polota-Nau was closer to a Test recall after playing but didn't go as far as saying he would definitely start Saturday's match.

"It was good he got some rugby under his belt," Deans said of Polota-Nau.

England coach Martin Johnson said he expected Polota-Nau to play this weekend.

Deans said he never contemplated looking for uncontested scrums after Cowan went off and said Polota-Nau had some prior experience at tighthead prop.

Johnson gave the Barbarians full credit for not looking for uncontested scrums and praised the home team's tenacity in that area despite their obvious problems.

"Fair play to them, they got on with it. They took their medicine at times, they stuck at it pretty well in the scrum," Johnson said.

Johnson said the pitch was wet even before the game and conditions became ever tougher as it progressed, though he felt his team should have finished the Barbarians off in the first quarter.

"I thought we played some pretty good rugby in the first 20 and some pretty good rugby in the last 20, it was different rugby and it had to be," Johnson said.

He said it was his call that the other more senior members of the squad didn't travel to support the team as he felt there was some soreness following a hard training session earlier in the day.

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