Not even 24 hours after the thrilling last-minute drama of the Premiership final, Twickenham will host another showcase match as England face the Barbarians.
If this afternoon’s game is anything like yesterday’s, it will be a blank slate. While Leicester’s 15-12 win over the Saracens wasn’t exactly liquid rugby, Freddie Burns’ 30-second goal was an exciting end to the Premiership season.
With the Leicester players no doubt still celebrating and Sarries recovering and licking his wounds, Eddie Jones doesn’t have a significant number of his regular starters today. As such, his England XV is a mix of youngsters, marginal players and familiar faces returning from injury.
The Barbarians, meanwhile, have named a team mostly French-speaking, which is not surprising, as the team was created by French coach Fabien Galthie. Speaking exclusively to Telegraph Sport, Galthie admitted that “our team is essentially a XV of France’s development”.
Explaining the reason for the selection of his squad, Galthie said: “There are players who will be international, players who are already international and some who are not yet in the national team. [France] from the XV.
“Damian Penaud is already the first choice for us, but the others are in development. They could all join the French team one day.”
Jones also wanted to stress that his team is experimental, although some of the players will be hoping to get into their minds for the England tour of Australia next month. “This is a young team, they have prepared very well and they have worked hard during the last camps to get together as a group … it is a great opportunity to play in this team of the XV of England and show the that they can do, ”he said. dit.
“We are looking forward to playing against an unusually French Barbarian team, which is usually only obtained when you play against the French Barbarians.
“We will take this opportunity as an opportunity to develop combinations and evaluate players for the Australian tour.
“We will bet the best we can and it should be a great rugby match for all Twickenham fans.”