Sunday 29th May KO 2.30pm
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THE Barbarians will once again return to the home of England Rugby to take on an England XV over the bank holiday weekend on May 29, 2011. With another victory over southern hemisphere powers South Africa to enjoy, the Baa Baas will be looking to make their mark against England.
England, in preparation for their summer internationals, will have a number of players intent on joining Martin Johnson on the plane to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup later in the year.
ENGLAND have confirmed that Gloucester No.8 Luke Narraway will lead the side against the Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium but have delayed naming their team because of injury concerns.
England have a number of experienced backs at their disposal for the non-cap game – including Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Ugo Monye (Harlequins) and James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby).
In a group of young forwards the likes of prop Joe Marler (Harlequins), lock Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors) and flanker Carl Fearns (Sale Sharks) are set to make their first senior appearances at Twickenham.
Exeter Chiefs flanker Tom Johnson, one of the discoveries of the season in the Aviva Premiership, will get to pull on an England shirt at 15-a-side level for the first time.
15 Mike Brown (Harlequins) 14 James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby) 13 Henry Trinder* (Gloucester Rugby) 12 Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby) 11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins) 10 Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks) 9 Paul Hodgson ( London Irish) 1 Joe Marler* (Harlequins) 2 David Paice (London Irish) 3 Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby) 4 Graham Kitchener* (Worcester Warriors) 5 David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby) 6 Tom Johnson* (Exeter Chiefs) 7 Carl Fearns* (Sale Sharks) 8 LUKE NARRAWAY [C] (Gloucester Rugby) BENCH: 16 Joe Gray (Harlequins) 17 Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons) 18 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks) 19 Jamie Gibson (London Irish) 20 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons) 21 Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints) 22 Jordon Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
* Uncapped players
ITALY'S Sergio Parisse will captain the Barbarians against England at Twickenham on Sunday. He leads a multi-national side that features Australia's George Smith and Springbok Joe van Niekerk alongside him in the back row and a French midfield of Frederic Michalak at fly-half and Matthieu Bastareaud and Benoit Baby in the centres.
15 Nicolas Jeanjean (Brive) 14 Paul Sackey (Toulon) 13 Benoit Baby (Clermont Auvergne) 12 Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Français) 11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh Rugby) 10 Frederic Michalak (Toulouse) 9 Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 1 Salvatore Perugini (Aironi) 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso) 3 Davit Kubriashvili (Toulon) 4 Erik Lund (Biarritz) 5 Paul Tito (Cardiff Blues) 6 Joe van Niekerk (Toulon) 7 George Smith (Toulon) 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] (Stade Français) BENCH: 16 Sebastien Bruno (Toulon) 17 Carl Hayman (Toulon) 18 Quintin Geldenhuys (Aironi) 19 Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues) 20 Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres Olympique) 21 Willie Mason (Toulon) 22 Seru Rabeni (La Rochelle)
TICKETS
Tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster. Prices from £25 to £40 for adults, £10 for juniors (U-16).
And there's still time to take advantage of the 2-4-1 ticket offer, so click away and find out how you can see some of the world's best internationals strut their stuff...
ABOUT THE BARBARIANS
Many years ago, a group of players were chosen to form an elite team. They had no ground, clubhouse or subscription and membership was by invitation only. In essence, they represented a glorious concept brought to life by the vision and enthusiam of one man, William Percy Carpmael. Inspired by his personal playing experiences with both Blackheath and Cambridge University, his dream was to spread good fellowship amongst all rugby football players.The dream became reality on December 27th 1890 at Friary Field, Hartlepool. There, all things great about the game - flair, courage, spirit and passion - were encapsulated in one great team. A team they called the Barbarians.
WP Carpmael conceived his brilliant idea late one evening in 1890 in Leuchters Restaurant, Bradford, at a time when practically every club ceased playing in early March.There were no tours and players just "packed up" until the following season, but his scheme for collecting a touring side from all sources; to tackle a few leading clubs in the land, instantly received support from the best, and today this support is as strong as ever.
Carpmael's great idea that the Barbarian Club should be absolutely cosmopolitan with the aim of spreading good-fellowship amongst all rugby football players has been rigidly adhered to by those who have followed him in the management of the club. Membership is by invitation and the only qualifications considered when issuing an invitation are; that the player's football is of a good enough standard and secondly that he should behave himself on and off the field. There is no discrimination whatsoever by race, colour or creed.
