- Barbarians announce strong side with Rush as captain
- England captain Nick Easter says Baa-Baas will present stern test
England captain Nick Easter says the Barbarians will provide a traditionally robust challenge after the invitational side announced their line-up for the MasterCard Trophy match on Sunday.
Xavier Rush has been named captain of the multi-national Barbarians' team, which faces England at Twickenham Stadium (5pm).
The Cardiff Blues No.8 leads a starting line-up featuring players from eight countries and is joined in the back-row by fellow All Black Rodney So'oialo and Cardiff Blues' club-mate Martyn Williams.
England also have a strong contingent with internationals London Wasps wing Paul Sackey and Leicester Tigers pair prop Julian White and lock Ben Kay.
Easter, who will captain the side from No.8, said: "The Barbarians will present a big challenge, bigger than in years gone by.
"The Barbarians committee have managed to put out some really strong and really competitive sides over the past few years.
"That’s the essence of the Barbarians – the type of rugby they play but also having the quality there.
"Sunday is a chance to get one back, we won one two years ago but lost the last one."
Tickets are available online or call 0844 8472492. Tickets for the MasterCard Trophy match (kick off 5pm) are priced from £25.00 for adults and £10 for under 16s and tickets are available now from www.rfu.com/tickets.
| Barbarians Team to face the England |
|---|
| Player | Club |
|---|
| 15 Paul Warwick |
Munster |
| 14 Paul Sackey |
London Wasps |
| 13 Casey Laulala |
Cardiff Blues |
| 12 Florian Fritz |
Toulouse |
| 11 Cedric Heymans |
Toulouse |
| 10 Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde |
Toulouse |
| 9 Byron Kelleher |
Toulouse |
| 1 Rodrigo Roncero |
Stade Francais |
| 2 Benoit August |
Biarritz |
| 3 Julian White |
Leicester Tigers |
| 4 Ross Skeate |
Toulon |
| 5 Ben Kay |
Leicester Tigers |
| 6 Rodney So'oialo |
Hurricanes |
| 7 Martyn Williams |
Cardiff Blues |
| 8 Xavier Rush (C) |
Cardiff Blues |
| Replacements |
|---|
| Player | Club |
|---|
| 16 Ken Owens |
Scarlets |
| 17 Census Johnson |
Toulouse |
| 18 Jerome Thion |
Biarritz |
| 19 Geroge Smith |
Brumbies |
| 20 Pierre Mignoni |
Toulon |
| 21 Fabrice Estebanez |
Brive |
| 22 David Smith |
Hurricanes |
