Barbarians head coach David Young makes changes in squad for encounter against Wales – Rugby
Barbarians head coach David Young has made 10 changes in the squad for their Saturday, June 4th encounter against Wales at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Young has made changes to the squad, which last Sunday defeated England 38 – 32 at Twickenham. Officials announced the Barbarians 22-man squad for their Saturday encounter at the club’s official website on Thursday, June 2.
Prominently included in the line is the Welsh international rugby union flanker Martyn Williams. The 35-year-old Williams has replaced George Smith with the number 7 shirt. Smith has moved on to the bench to participate later in the game if required.
Nicolas Jeanjean has been dropped from the side making way for the Fijian International and Leinster’s fullback, Isa Nacewa, to take the field as fullback. Centre Benoit Baby is moved to the bench making way for Nacewa’s countrymen Seru Rabeni to take the field in Saturday’s clash.
All Blacks star winger Doug Howlett has replaced Tim Visser in the side. Visser scored two tries for Barbarians in their clash against England. Visser’s 78th minute try, which was his second in the game, won the game for the Barbarians.
Alongside Visser, Barbarians are dented badly with the exclusion of their half back pair of Frederic Michalk and Ruan Pienaar. They fly half Frederic Michalak has joined the Super Rugby franchise Sharks and has left the country. While the former Springbok international scrum half Ruan Pienaar is also in Durban and reports are that he is talks with the Kings Park based Sharks management about a possible return to the South Africa.
The 29-year-old Australian born Brock James will start the match in place of Michalak. While, the French international winger Sebastien Tillous-Borde has replaced Ruan Pienaar.
Iestyn Thomas, Sebastien Bruno, Iosefa Tekori, and Carl Hayman are the other changes named by Young. Toulon’s centre Willie Mason will again start from the bench. Mason came to the field for Barbarians during their last weekend encounter during the 64th minute of the game and played at the flanker position.
Alain Rolland from Ireland will perform the duties of the on field referee and he will be assisted by Peter Fitzgibbon and Simon McDowell. Both Fitzgibbon and McDowell are also from Ireland.
The Barbarians squad includes-
Starting xv: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Seru Rabeni, 12 Mathieu Bastareaud, 11 Doug Howlett, 10 Brock James, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Joe van Niekerk, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Iosefa Tekori, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Davit Kubriashvili, 18 Erik Lund, 19 George Smith, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Willie Mason, 22 Benoit Baby.
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