1
Saracens' Barbarians representation climbs to 11 as another 8 called in to face England
By Online Editors
The October 25 match at Twickenham is set to be an England vs Saracens type match after the Barbarians called up a further eight players from the London club, bringing their representation in Vern Cotter's squad to eleven.
Richard Wigglesworth, Jackson Wray and Manu Vunipola were all included by Cotter earlier this week and the Fijian coach has gone back to Mark McCall to further bolster the Barbarians by now calling in Sean Maitland, Tim Swinson, Joel Kpoku, Calum Clark, Dom Morris, Juan Pablo Socino, Alex Lewington and Tom Woolstencroft.
Cotter said: “The addition of these eight players into the squad brings an exciting mix of versatility, experience and youth.
"We are collecting a very strong mix of players and are looking forward to getting together in camp next week and creating a Barbarians team that will deliver the brand of rugby with flair, passion and excitement for which we’re known across the world.”
Second row Swinson was chuffed with his call-up. “Sarries tempted me out of retirement back in July, and it was such a good opportunity to play for my boyhood club and extend my career," he told the Saracens website. "Adding a Barbarians shirt to that next week will be a huge honour and I can’t wait to get into camp and build for the Quilter Cup.”
Maitland added: “I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of amazing playing squads like Saracens, Scotland and the Lions. Adding the Baa-Baas to that is something I’ve always hoped I would be able to do, and I’ll wear the shirt with great pride.”
As with Swinson, Argentinian fly-half Juan Pablo Socino joined Saracens in July and he will now enjoy a week with the Barbarians before the start of the 2020/21 Championship. “To join a club like Saracens was huge for me and my family. And now to join the ranks of incredible Argentinian players who have played for the Barbarians just shows how important that decision was!”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series
3
Scotland's Sione Tuipulotu admits anger at Australian rugby
4
Fissler Confidential: Willie le Roux rumours ignite after Bok star spo
5
Latest Comments
There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.
Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.
Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.
They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.
Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.
Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen
Go to commentsWas it? I just brought it up in some of my posts to rub it in that the AB last year nearly put 100 on a top 6N side lol
I agree to be honest. The biggest key to me that they might be jadded was none of them had mom performances, or even as good as their last three games.
Go to comments