England will not play New Zealand in autumn as RFU confirms Barbarians match

• Top two ranked sides in world will not meet until 2018• RFU admits defeat in staging All Blacks gameEngland’s hopes of a showdown with New Zealand later this year are over after the All Blacks opted to fulfil their planned fixture with the Barbarians on 4 November instead.The RFU has admitted defeat in attempting to bring forward a meeting between the world’s top two ranked sides, instead giving its approval to the Barbarians fixture, which will be played at Twickenham. A spokesperson for the governing body said: “We explored whether there was an opportunity to play New Zealand this year, bu…