RFU names five un-capped players for England vs Barbarians – Rugby news
Rugby Football Union has announced a very young English side that will take on the Barbarians at the Twickenham on Sunday May 29. RFU announced the names of England’s match 22 on their website on Friday May 27.
This is by far the youngest English side of the season. Five un-capped players are named in the starting XV while the other seven are being listed for the bench.
At the start of the week, RFU revealed in a statement that the match 22 would be announced on Wednesday, May 25. However on Wednesday, England Saxons coach who is in-charge of England’s preparation for the Barbarians clash,
Stuart Lancaster, announced Gloucester’s number 8, Luke Narraway, as the captain for the side.
The team announcement was delayed until Friday to give injured players time to recover from their respective injuries. In the end, Lee Dickson and Calum Clark of the Northampton Saints failed to recover from their shoulder and
back injuries respectively.
Dickson and Clark are replaced in the squad by Micky Young and Jamie Gibson. Young plays as scrumhalf at Newcastle Falcons while Gibson plays at the flanker position for London Irish.
The young players named in the starting line-up include Tom Johnson, Graham Kitchener, Henry Trinder, Joe Marler, and Carl Fearns. Exeter’s Tom Johnson will start at back-row, Gloucester’s Henry Trinder as outside centre, Harlequins’
Joe Marler as prop, Worcester’s Graham Kitchener Sale’s Carl Fearns will take the position of flankers.
Lancaster has termed the match as an opportunity for the youngsters to test their skills against the best players available in the rugby world. He said, "We have the opportunity to measure ourselves against a very experienced
Barbarians side including some of the very best players in the world.”
Christophe Berdos from France will perform the duties of the on-field referee. He will be assisted by fellow Frenchman Pascal Gauzere and David Changleng from Scotland. The match will kick-start at 13:00 GMT at Twickenham on
Sunday May 29.
The match will help the coaches to assess the skills of the young players to finalise their World Cup squad. Defending champions England Saxons will commence their Churchill Cup campaign on June 4, while Martin Johnson’s English
side will take on the All Blacks.
England’s match 22 include-
Starting XV: 15 Mike Brown, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Matt Banahan, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Luke Narraway (capt), 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Graeme Kitchener, 3 Paul Doran-Jones,
2 David Paice, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 13 Kieran Brookes, 18 James Gaskell, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Mickey Young, 21 Stephen Myler, 22 Jordan Turner-Hall.
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