The Barbarians have named the core of their squad to face England and the Lions this summer and it features some household names.
By Declan Whooley
Team manager Derek Quinnell, the former Welsh international whose sons Gavin and Scott have also represented their country with distinction, has named 22 players which will form the nucleus of the squad to face England at Twickenham on May 26 before flying to Hong Kong to face the Lions six days later. Others are expected to be called up before the matches, but there is a lot of international pedigree in the panel.
Joe Rokocoko, James Hook, Nick Evans, Dimitri Yachvili, Sergio Parisse and Imanol Harinordoquy are some of the biggest names available and Munster and Ulster are also represented, with prop BJ Botha and full-back Jared Payne selected to don the famous jersey.
Uncapped Wasps flanker Sam Jones is named along with Hong Kong sevens skipper Rowan Varty to keep the local interest and in all players from 10 different countries are now represented, including United States speed merchant Takudzwa Ngwenya and Samoa scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i.
“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 in the near future,” Quinnell told reporters.
We look forward to seeing one of the great amateur traditions continuing in the near future.
Backs – J Payne (Ulster), R Varty (DeA Tigers and Hong Kong), T Ngwenya (Biarritz and USA), J Rokocoko (Bayonne and New Zealand), J Hook (Perpignan and Wales), N Evans (Harlequins and New Zealand), K Fotuali’I (Ospreys and Samoa), D Peel (Sale Sharks and Wales), D Yachvili (Biarritz and France).
Forwards – D Jones (Ospreys and Wales), B J Botha (Munster and South Africa), P James (Bath and Wales), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester and Italy), M Rees (Scarlets and Wales), L Ghiraldini (Treviso and Italy), M Wentzel (Wasps and South Africa), J Hamilton (Gloucester and Scotland), F Louw (Bath and South Africa), S Jones (Wasps), A Zanni (Treviso and Italy), S Parisse (Stade Francais and Italy), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz and France).
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