The Barbarians have announced 22 of their squad that will face the British and Irish Lions in Hong Kong on the 1st June after facing England at Twickenham the week before.
Two uncapped players have been named, full back Jared Payne of Ulster and New Zealand and flanker Sam Jones of London Wasps and England.
In terms of inexperience though, the real feature name in the squad is Hong Kong’s 7’s captain Rowan Varty, a flying winger who is sure to revel in the exalted company of the Barbarians squad.
Three former British and Irish Lions are involved, Matthew Rees, James Hook and Dwayne Peel, while Paul James and Jim Hamilton are also both included, both had been hotly tipped for Lions selection when the squad was announced but narrowly missed out.
Also eligible for the Lions are the aforementioned Jones, and his namesake Duncan Jones of the Ospreys. Mike Tindall will be the Player/Assistant coach for the tour which will be coached by former Lion Dai Young.
Team manager Derek Quinnell said:
“Our selection process has taken several months and is still not quite complete. Over the next week or so we will be monitoring the domestic play-off matches in Europe and the various national squads for the summer tours.â€
“Also, one or two players in the squad announced today may not be available for both of our matches so we expect to add other significant names to the team in the near future.”
It is a squad that will certainly test the Lions in what is one of the most eagerly anticipated matches the Lions have ever faced outside of a test series, with some truly world class names set to appear, including Italy captain Sergio Parisse and Biarritz and France scrum half Dimitri Yashvilli.
Provisional Barbarians squad v British & Irish Lions and England | ||
Coach | Dai Young | |
Player/Assistant Coach | Mike Tindall | |
Name | Club | Country |
Jared Payne | Ulster | New Zealand (Uncapped) |
Rowan Varty | DeA Tigers | Hong Kong |
Takudzwa Ngwenya | Biarritz | USA |
Joe Rokocoko | Bayonne | New Zealand |
James Hook | Perpignan | Wales |
Nick Evans | Harlequins | New Zealand |
Kahn Fotuali’i | Ospreys | Samoa |
Dwayne Peel | Sale | Wales |
Dimitri Yashvilli | Biarritz | France |
Duncan Jones | Ospreys | Wales |
BJ Botha | Munster | South Africa |
Paul James | Bath | Wales |
Martin Castrogiovanni | Leicester | Italy |
Matthew Rees | Scarlets | Wales |
Leonardo Ghiraldini | Treviso | Italy |
Marco Wentzel | London Wasps | South Africa |
Jim Hamilton | Gloucester | Scotland |
Francois Louw | Bath | South Africa |
Sam Jones | London Wasps | England (Uncapped) |
Alessandro Zanni | Treviso | Italy |
Sergio Parisse | Stade Francais | Italy |
Imanol Harinordoquy | Biarritz | France |
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