A youthful England XV side will take on a star-studded Barbarians outfit at Twickenham on Sunday the 2nd of June.
Twickenham is set to play host to a carnival of rugby this coming Sunday with an extremely youthful England side XV side locking horns with a Barbarians team laden with current and ex-internationals. The Barbarians won last year’s fixture against the English 45-63 and we could be in for another open game with both sides possessing some devastating backs.
England XV v Barbarians
Sunday 2 June
Twickenham
To Win (80 Mins)
England XV
Draw
Barbarians
*Odds to be added on release
England XV
This English XV side could be in for a long old day at Twickenham this coming Sunday. They have some amazingly talented players in their squad but the majority of them have yet to face as strong a side as the one they will take on at ‘The Home of Rugby’.
A lot of responsibility will fall on the extremely young shoulders of Marcus Smith. The Harlequins pivot was supposed to be on his way to Argentina for the IRB Under 20 Championship but will instead front up against a hard-hitting Barbarians midfield. Smith has spent some time in and around the England senior camp and may be more comfortable than his peers at dealing with what are some very intimidating Baa-Baas players.
England XV Squad
Forwards
Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby), Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby), Ross Harrison (Sale Sharks), Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints), Paul Hill (Northampton Saints), Beno Obano (Bath Rugby), Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints), Will Spencer (Leicester Tigers), Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby), Tommy Taylor (Wasps)
Backs
Josh Bassett (Wasps), Simon Hammersley (Newcastle Falcons), Ben Loader (London Irish), Joe Marchant (Harlequins), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Piers O’Conor (Bristol Bears), Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben White (Leicester Tigers), Johnny Williams (Newcastle Falcons)
Barbarians
While the 2018 July Barbarians cast looked good on both paper and the field, this current crop could well surpass their compatriots. After just having quick look through their squad or Sunday’s encounter I actually started to feel sorry for the young English lads who will have to front up to monstrous beasts like Pierre Schoeman, Liam Messam and Taqele Naiyaravoro.
As we all know, Barbarians rugby is based on flair rather than power and this outfit is littered with x-factor players including the dynamic Charles Pitau, nuggety Welsh nine Rhys Webb and Irish pace merchant Niyi Adeolokun.
The Baa-Baas also have two exceptional pivots on their books for this one with veterans Colin Slade and Brock James likely to enjoy a half of rugby each. Both men have, while solid all-around tens are likely to bring out the flicks and tricks for this one.
While there’s not much point in going through the Barbarians recent results – they don’t play often enough to build any moment and their squad changes from match to match – they have only lost one of their last nine fixtures with that defeat coming to a New Zealand XV side back in 2017.
Barbarians Squad
Forwards
Joe Marler (Harlequins & England), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh), John Afoa (Bristol Bears & New Zealand), Finlay Bealham (Connacht & Ireland), David Heffernan (Connacht & Ireland), Richard Hibbard (Dragons & Wales), James Horwill (Harlequins & Australia), Chris Vui (Bristol Bears & Samoa), Steven Luatua (Bristol Bears & New Zealand), Facundo Isa (Toulon & Argentina), Liam Messam (Toulon & New Zealand), Viliame Mata (Edinburgh & Fiji), Francois Louw (Bath & South Africa)
Backs
Rhys Webb (Toulon & Wales), Rhodri Williams (Dragons & Wales), Colin Slade (Pau & New Zealand), Brock James (Bordeaux Begles), Mark Atkinson (Gloucester), Malakai Fekitoa (Toulon & New Zealand), Filipo Nakosi (Toulon), Taqele Naiyaravoro (Northampton Saints & Australia), Niyi Adeolokun (Connacht & Ireland), Charles Piutau (Bristol Bears & New Zealand)
Verdict: Barbarians
While there is a lot of talent in the English XV side I simply cannot see them fronting up to a vastly experienced Baa-Baas outfit. My money is on the men in black and white winning this one by 20 points or more.
