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All Blacks to face Barbarians at Twickenham in November
By Jack Davies
England's hopes of facing New Zealand in November appear to have been dashed after the Barbarians confirmed they will take on the All Blacks at Twickenham.
Eddie Jones' men matched the world champions' record 18-match winning run on their way to defending the Six Nations title this month, but - like the All Blacks last year - saw that run ended by Ireland on Saturday.
The form of the two sides had led to calls for them to go head-to-head later this year, with reports suggesting Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie could veto the Barbarians fixture on November 4 in a bid to free up the date.
However, the Barbarians revealed on Wednesday that the RFU had approved their meeting with the All Blacks.
Baa-Baas chairman John Spencer said: "The entire Barbarians Committee would like to thank the RFU for approving this fixture against New Zealand.
"For the record, and contrary to some recent media reports, the Barbarians have a strong and very collaborative relationship with the RFU, and any suggestion that the RFU has not acted correctly in any part of the discussions around staging this fixture is unfair and wrong."
NEWS
We can confirm RFU approval to play World No & Triple World Champions @AllBlacks
Twickenham, Nov 4 #rugby #rugbyunited pic.twitter.com/uYEHhunP4M
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) March 22, 2017
The match still requires the approval of the New Zealand board.
England face Argentina, Australia and Samoa in November.
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