George North bagged a brace on his farewell but it was not enough for the Barbarians as they were narrowly denied a memorable victory over Wales at Allianz Stadium.
The famous invitational club trailed 5-14 at the interval with two-time Rugby World Cup winner Vincent Koch powering over, but Wales showed their cohesion and kept in front with a fortuitous try.
They snatched a third try against the run of play in the second half, when Dan Edwards took advantage of space with Andrew Kellaway limping off on his finale appearance.
But cometh the man, cometh the moment with North, who scored 47 tries in 121 Wales appearances, crossing against his former teammates within a minute of coming on.
Hughes was soon held up over the line with Wales surviving a nervous period before they crossed for three further tries to Nankivell’s strike-play score.
North finished again on 71 minutes to set up a tense finale at Twickenham. Santiago Arata scored with the final play and the Wales and British & Irish Lions legend landed the conversion but there was to be no fairytale ending has he drew the curtain on his illustrious career.
The Barbarians went into the fixture with 19 internationals from 11 different nations and they lived up to the Barbarian spirit as they thrilled and entertained.
Wales opened the scoring after four minutes at Twickenham with Kieran Hardy sniping over from close-range following a succession of early penalties.
Dan Edwards converted but it was not long until the Barbarians got on back of their own. They too kicked to the corner after earning a penalty and they went through the phases with Vincent Koch powering over.
Harry Plummer hit the left upright with the conversion as Wales held onto a two-point lead. The Baa-Baas continued to cause the Welsh problems with Nathan Hughes in particular using his physicality against his old enemy.
With the Barbarians utilising an open and ambitions style of play, they made major inroads when Jeremy Ward did remarkably well to collect a Plummer chip over the rush defence.
After winning another penalty, the home side again went to the corner and played a set-play, which saw captain, Faf de Klerk, lifted at the front. The ball was secured but the intuitive move did not produce a try.
Wales almost struck against the run of play as 20 minutes approached but Taine Plumtree knocked on with the line at his mercy after the referee missed a previous fumble.
Next it was the turn of the Barbarians and they continued to entertain with De Klerk chipping and collecting from the ensuing scrum. A serious of outrageous offloads and flicks followed as the Baa-Baas went the length but possession was lost within inches of the line.
It was however Wales who scored next. Their field position again came from earning a penalty and a long Hardy pass from the base found Edwards unopposed and he converted the score.
Wales again fluffed their lines on 31 minutes when Dewi Lake unexpectedly passed to Aaron Wainright when in space. It caught the number eight off guard and after he stumbled to collect, the Barbarians swooped for a turnover penalty.
The Baa-baas almost hit back when Hughes released De Klerk off the back of a scrum but after beating one man, Wales’ cover saved the day.
Possession was spread wide but the Barbarians were unable to cross and Ward was bundled into touch after a quick tap, with the score remaining 5-14 at the interval.
Edwards grabbed his second try, again against the run of play and exposing space after Andrew Kellaway was downed by a hamstring injury.
Wales kicked long into space and with Kellaway, De Klerk and Plummer on the floor, Edwards faced onto the bouncing ball to score a fortuitous try.
The Barbarians made a number of changes with George North replacing Kellaway and it took the legendary Wales international less than a minute to score against his fellow countrymen.
It was another fine attack from the Baa-Baas with Ward and Alex Nankivell continuing to combine to good effect. A long ball was send to the right wing and North bulldozed through two Welsh defenders to score.
Pummer fired wide with the conversion, but the score was now 10-19 with momentum shifting towards the team in black and white.
Hughes was held up over the line after the Barbarians set up a clever rolling maul from a tap penalty.
Wales landed a decisive blow when Reuban Morgan-Williams sniped over from the base and Sam Costelow converted to make it 10-26.
The Barbarians however were undeterred and they crossed just minutes later. A beautifully delayed pass saw Yoan Tanga make a decisive break through the red wall and he released Nankivell for a crucial try. Plummer added the extras to make it 17-26 with a quarter remaining.
Ellis Mee squeezed into the corner and raced under the sticks on 68 minutes with Costelow knocking over the simple conversion to make it 17-33, but North gave his side hope just two minutes later.
Santiago Arata finished a fine team try in the final moments and fittingly, North landed the conversion to make it 31-33 as Wales survived.
15 Tom Spring; Andrew Kellaway (George North 47), Jeremy Ward, Alex Nankivell, Virimi Vakatawa; Harry Plummer, Faf de Klerk (capt) (Santiago Arata 47-56, 57); Giorgi Kharaishvili (Jack Iscaro 26), Elliot Dee (Harry Thacker 55), Vincent Koch Paul Alo-Emile (48), Izack Rodda (Yoan Tanga 49), Romain Taofifénua (Liam McConnell 62), Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Lachlan Boshier, Nathan Hughes (Jordan Joseph 55)
