Australia will leave for home today with considerable satisfaction. They gave rugby and Olympic history a courteous nod at Wembley last night, carried off the newly minted Cornwall Cup but, more to the point, saw their young, inexperienced players offer a performance of the highest character.

In the final game of a tour that has brought wins over Italy, England and France, plus losses to New Zealand and Wales, Australia beat the Barbarians in a physical contest little below the calibre of an international match. The only blemishes were serious late injuries to two front-row forwards, which forced uncontested scrums and removed a vital plank of the Barbarians’ game.

If the rugby, on a freezing evening, was reminiscent at times of a closely contested Guinness Premiership encounter rather than the fluent style with which the Barbarians have always been associated, it was nonetheless an apt tribute to the occasion — the celebration of the centenary of Australia winning Olympic rugby gold by beating Cornwall (the only other competitors) at White City.

The presence of the Princess Royal was a reminder of Olympic associations, though it was also against Australia, 60 years ago, that the Barbarians began their long-cherished tradition of playing southern-hemisphere touring sides. Today’s Wallabies, though, had to work far harder to win than their predecessors and they made sure only three minutes from time when Lachie Turner, a midfield replacement, scored their second try.

By that stage Matt Dunning and Sekope Kepu had left in considerable discomfort and it could be months before either plays again. Dunning snapped an Achilles tendon as a scrum rocketed backwards and Kepu tore a pectoral muscle.

Robbie Deans, the Australia coach, was delighted with the performance of his young players. James O’Connor, 18, and his colleagues rode out the initial storm from the Barbarians, whose muscular assault was led by Schalk Burger. Inevitably the first try came from turnover ball just after Richie McCaw had been denied a score by the video referee. Ryan Cross fended off Jean de Villiers and chipped the ball into space, Lote Tuqiri gathering with ease to score.

With the Barbarians struggling at the breakdown to comply with the requirements of Chris White, the referee, O’Connor added two penalty goals before a contretemps between Quade Cooper and Federico Pucciarello put the Barbarians on their mettle.

Cooper chose to punch, then elbow, Fourie du Preez and found himself on the end of retribution from Pucciarello. White confined himself to a lecture and the Barbarians gathered themselves together to create two penalty opportunities for Percy Montgomery. Had they scored during the opening phase of the second half, they may well have taken control.

McCaw and Rodney Blake were ruled by the video official to have been held over the line and, amid the siege, Australia lost their two props. Their defence, though, remained strong and they preyed on every Barbarians mistake, not least when a pass from John Smit fell to Adam Ashley-Cooper and Dean Mumm was only just halted.

It was the arrival of rugby’s most capped player, George Gregan, to operate at scrum half against his own country that tipped the balance towards the Barbarians. He hacked through a loose ball, O’Connor cleared only to Francois Steyn and his long pass found Shane Williams, a second-half replacement. The Wales wing darted clear and fed an inside pass to Jerry Collins, in far better form here than has apparently been the case during his stay at Toulon.

But Steyn could not convert, nor could he find the posts with a penalty or a dropped goal. Worse, he was then turned over and Drew Mitchell ran a beautiful line before releasing Turner on a triumphant romp to the line.

Scorers: Barbarians: Try: Collins (62min). Penalty goals: Montgomery 2 (35, 39). Australia XV: Tries: Tuqiri (13), Turner (78). Conversion: O’Connor. Penalty goals: O’Connor 2 (20, 23).

Scoring sequence (Barbarians first): 0-7, 0-10, 0-13, 3-13, 6-13 (half-time), 11-13, 11-18.

Barbarians: P Montgomery (South Africa; rep: S Williams, Wales, 41); J Rokocoko (New Zealand), R Gear (New Zealand; rep: O Smith, England, 51), J de Villiers (South Africa), B Habana (South Africa); F Steyn (South Africa), F du Preez (South Africa; rep: G Gregan, Australia, 59); F Pucciarello (Italy; rep: R Blake, Australia, 33), J Smit (South Africa, rep: M Regan, England, 59), C Johnston (Samoa; rep: N Koster, Western Province, 51), J Botha (South Africa), J Muller (South Africa; rep: C Jack, New Zealand, 51), J Collins (New Zealand), R McCaw (New Zealand), S Burger (South Africa).

Australia XV: J O’Connor (rep: D Mitchell, 65); L Tuqiri, R Cross (rep: L Turner, 58), A Ashley-Cooper, D Ioane; Q Cooper, B Sheehan (rep: L Burgess, 51); S Kepu (rep: A Freier, 47), T Polota-Nau, M Dunning (rep: B Alexander, 47), M Chisholm (rep: P Kimlin, 79), H McMeniman, D Mumm, G Smith, R Brown (rep: D Pocock, 47).

Referee: C White (England).

Attendance: 43,600.