New Zealand coach Steve Hansen will take charge of a 23-man Barbarians’ squad for the Killik Cup match against Fiji at Twickenham on 30 November.
The squad confirmed today features Springboks’ captain Jean de Villiers and seven other members of his side that has beaten Wales and Scotland on their current tour, together with eight of the all-conquering All Blacks’ squad.
Completing the line-up are five Pumas, Samoan centre Gavin Williams and, set to make his fourth appearance for the Barbarians, the legendary Springbok flanker Schalk Burger.
The match celebrates the centenary season of the Fiji Rugby Union and is a rematch of the famous game in 1970 when the Fijians defeated the Baa-Baas by 29-9.
Barbarians’ chairman John Spencer was a member of the club’s XV in 1970 and he admits that the occasion still brings back mixed memories. He said: “I suppose you could say that we were favourites to win the match but in the event we were overwhelmed by Fiji’s relentless attacking. “If I remember rightly, we were level at half-time but Fiji finished with seven tries! All we could do at the end was congratulate them on a phenomenal performance.”
Ticket sales for the match have comfortably exceeded 60,000 and with some still available via Ticketmaster.
Barbarians squad:
Backs – Willie le Roux (South Africa), Santiago Cordero (Argentina), Charles Piutau (New Zealand), Frank Halai (New Zealand), Jean de Villiers (South Africa), Gavin Williams (Samoa), Patrick Lambie (South Africa), Tom Taylor (New Zealand), T J Perenara (Hurricanes), Martin Landajo (Argentina)
Forwards – Keven Mealamu (New Zealand), Bismarck du Plessis (South Africa), Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa), Guillermo Roan (Argentina), Coenie Oosthuizen (South Africa), Matias Diaz (Argentina), Eben Etzebeth (South Africa), Dominic Bird (New Zealand), Manuel Carizza (Argentina), Steven Luatua (New Zealand), Luke Whitelock (New Zealand), Schalk Burger (South Africa), Duane Vermeulen (South Africa)
Coach – Steve Hansen
Assistant coach – Mark Bakewell