Northern | US

Four Toulon stars named in Barbarians squad to face England XV


Toulon centre Malakai Fekitoa
Comments
Comment

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

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Video Spacer

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Source England Rugby/Barbarians FC website

Stream Nations Championship 2026 LIVE

Hemispheres collide in the new Nations Championship. Stream live, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV.

Watch on RPTV
Starts 4th July 2026 - USA only.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

P
Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



...

18 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Copied to clipboard

Share Article close