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Four Toulon stars named in Barbarians squad to face England XV

Toulon centre Malakai Fekitoa

Four Toulon stars have been named in the Barbarians squad that will face an England XV in Twickenham this June.

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Two of the four who accepted invitations to play in the Quilter Cup starred at Twickenham last season.

Wing Josua Tuisova and centre Malakai Fekitoa return to face an England XV after their devastating display in 2018 when they helped the famous invitation side to a record 63-45 win.

They will be joined by Wales and British & Irish Lions scrumhalf Rhys Webb and Fijian wing Filipo Nakosi — Tuisova’s brother — for the match on June 2.

The game is part of a historic double-header with the Barbarians’ women’s side taking on the Red Roses for the first time at 12.45pm.

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Fiji wing Tuisova — a sevens gold medallist at the 2016 Olympics — was the stand-out performer against England last season.

He made 214 metres, seven clean breaks, beat eight defenders and offloaded four times as well as providing try assists for Chris Ashton, Greig Laidlaw and Victor Vito.

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Fekitoa came off the bench that day while Webb and Nakosi will be making their first appearances in the famous black and white jersey.

Webb has first-hand experience of Barbarians games having featured for Wales in their 30-21 win over the Baa-baas in 2012.

“We’re delighted to have players of such high quality available for what promises to be another extremely competitive game,” said Barbarians chairman John Spencer.

“Last year’s side produced a record-breaking attacking display and with the Barbarians women’s side also in action against the Red Roses June 2 promises to be another historic day for the club.”

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Source England Rugby/Barbarians FC website

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cw 4 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Thanks JW for clarifying your point and totally agree. The ABs are still trying to find their mojo” - that spark of power that binds and defines them. Man the Boks certainly found theirs in Wellington! But I think it cannot be far off for ABs - my comment about two coaches was a bit glib. The key point for me is that they need first a coach or coaches that can unlock that power and for me that starts at getting the set piece right and especially the scrum and second a coach that can simplify the game plans. I am fortified in this view by NBs comment that most of the ABs tries come from the scrum or lineout - this is the structured power game we have been seeing all year. But it cannot work while the scrum is backpeddling. That has to be fixed ASAP if Robertson is going to stick to this formula. I also think it is too late in the cycle to reverse course and revert to a game based on speed and continuity. The second is just as important - keep it simple! Complex movements that require 196 cm 144 kg props to run around like 95kg flankers is never going to work over a sustained period. The 2024 Blues showed what a powerful yet simple formula can do. The 2025 Blues, with Beauden at 10 tried to be more expansive / complicated - and struggled for most of the season.

I also think that the split bench needs to reflect the game they “want” to play not follow some rote formula. For example the ABs impact bench has the biggest front row in the World with two props 195cm / 140 kg plus. But that bulk cannot succeed without the right power based second row (7, 4, 5, 6). That bulk becomes a disadvantage if they don’t have a rock solid base behind them - as both Boks showed at Eden Park and the English in London. Fresh powerful legs need to come on with them - thats why we need a 6-2 bench. And teams with this split can have players focused only on 40 minutes max of super high intensity play. Hence Robertson needs to design his team to accord with these basic physics.



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