The Barbarians and Fiji meet at a packed Twickenham this weekend. The Baa Baas have a formidable side and will be captained by Jean De Villiers, who along with Bismark Du Plessis and Steven Luatua, spoke of the honour of playing for the famous team.
With a strong South African and New Zealand influence, the Barbarians are coached by Steve Hansen and are looking for a good performance to end the year on a high note.
Captained by De Villiers, they have plenty of talent in the back and possess might up front in the form of Du Plessis, who maintains that he has plenty of respect for the Fijians.
“They’re all about the same height, except the front row and scrumhalf normally, otherwise they’re all the same size and they’re amazing athletes,” said Du Plessis, a huge man himself.
The Fijians are celebrating their centenary in international rugby, so will also be looking to impress in front of a large global audience. In 1970 the two teams played and the Fijians upset the Barbarians 29-9.
This rematch is set to be a Barbarians clash of old, with plenty of running rugby on display and no doubt a few big confrontations up front. Kickoff is at 14:30 GMT on Saturday, November 30th.
Barbarians team:
15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Gavin Williams, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Mick O’Driscoll, 3 Matias Diaz, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Guillermo Roan, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Manuel Carizza, 20 Luke Whitelock, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Tom Taylor, 23 Willie le Roux.
Credit: RFUTV
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