Alastair Kellock will lead the Barbarians against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
The former Scotland captain takes charge of a cosmopolitan squad, coached by Sir John Kirwan, for the Killik Cup match.
In the starting side are Australia wing Nick Cummins, who lines up against his former team-mates, with New Zealand’s Bledisloe Cup match winner Colin Slade at flyhalf.
Sport24
Kellock, 33, has won 56 caps for his country and captained Glasgow Warriors for nine years.
And he spoke on Wednesday of his honour at leading the world famous invitation side and following in the footsteps of the game’s all-time greats.
“You grow up watching these matches and to be invited to be part of it is a big honour,” said Kellock.
“It’s something so many fantastic players have done before and when (head coach) John Kirwan asked me to be the skipper that has just added to the privilege.
“I captained Glasgow for nine years and the circumstances here are entirely different. But there’s lots of experience in the side in the likes of Adam Thomson and Matt Stevens, and Colin Slade as vice captain has been excellent in training in adding so much detail.”
“The Barbarians is about the old school values of rugby and everything that’s good about them as well as a high level of performance, and getting that level of performance right is important.”
The Barbarians have made two changes to their squad this week for the matches against Australia and Leicester Tigers on Tuesday, November 4.
Sharks prop Lourens Adriaanse is on the bench following Coenie Oosthuizen’s call-up by South Africa and Blues wing Tevita Li will join the group to replace Patrick Osborne.
Barbarians team: 15 Tim Nanai Williams (Chiefs), 14 Frank Halai (Blues & New Zealand), 13 Juan de Jongh (Stormers & South Africa), 12 Francis Saili (Blues & New Zealand), 11 Nick Cummins (Coca Cola West Red Sparks & Australia), 10 Colin Slade (Crusaders & New Zealand), 9 Tomas Cubelli (Belgrano Ath & Argentina), 8 Steven Luatua (Blues & New Zealand), 7 Matt Todd (Crusaders & New Zealand), 6 Adam Thomson (Canon Eagles & New Zealand), 5 Alastair Kellock (Captain – Glasgow & Scotland), 4 Dominic Bird (Canterbury & New Zealand), 3 Angus Ta’avao (Blues), 2 James Parsons (Blues), 1 Matt Stevens (Sharks & England)
Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger (Chiefs & Samoa), 17 Thomas du Toit (Sharks), 18 Lourens Adriaanse (Sharks), 19 Heinrich Brussow (Cheetahs & South Africa), 20 Matias Alemanno (La Tablada & Argentina), 21 Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs), 22 Joaquin Tuculet (Grenoble & Argentina), 23 Marnitz Boshoff (Golden Lions & South Africa)
Congratulations to Al Kellock on the captaincy, GO BAABAAS!
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Juan deserves call up for BaaBaas, hope he has great match and enjoys the experience. He is truly unlucky not to be in Bok set-up. Would still love to see him and Serfontein as centre combination. Pollard, Serf, JdJ, wouldn’t be many backlines that could stop them or penetrate past them.
none looking at all good… wp best of a bad bunch…
Currie Cup: WP best supported
Cape Town – Currie Cup champions Western Province were the best supported team during this year’s competition.
According to Netwerk24, a total of 79 029 fans pitched up at Newlands to watch WP’s five home round-robin matches, while a further 74 362 fans witnessed their semi-final and final victories.
WP beat the Blue Bulls 31-23 in the semi-finals, before downing the Golden Lions 19-16 in last Saturday’s final.
The Lions were the second best supported team, followed by the Sharks, EP Kings, Blue Bulls, Free State Cheetahs, Pumas and Griquas.
Attendance figures for the 2014 Currie Cup league matches:
WP – 79 029
Golden Lions – 57 432
Sharks – 57 417
EP Kings – 53 570
Blue Bulls – 47 135
Free State Cheetahs – 37 764
Pumas – 24 924
Griquas – 11 200
@ ufo:
Griquas only had 2000 people a game?
Cheetahs 7000
lions 11000
pw 16000
Even the crowds are watered down 😛
NZ coach, & 10 NZ starters in that Baabaas XV:
{koff, koff} This weekend features the “NZ” Barbarians, NZ Maori & NZ All Blacks …
matt todd couldnt make the all black squad? :O
A strong Baabaas team this.
What if?
Just imagine!
Before the game even kicks off.
My Man of the Match is the ” honey badger.”
He’s the type of player that typifies Baabaas rugby.
3 @ ufo:
Interesting.
The perception is always that theSharks attract more support weekly than the Lions, yet the figures show differently, despite what the eye sees in the stadium.
I guess it’s the reality that in a 40 000 seat stadium 11 000 spectators means the stadium is > 25% full, but in a 60 000 seat stadium, 11 000 spectators equats to just over 18%.
Also where the people sit in relation to the cameras is important in building that perception.
Lions should maybe close the upper tiers of Ellis Park during the majority of the season.
Seems the silly season has started in all earnest in the Cape with WP reportedly in process of signing prop Vincent Koch from the Pumas to replace Brok Harris/ Pat Cilliers.
Vincent is originally from the Boland so lets hope for a sweet homecoming.
robzim wrote:
My understanding is that Koch is actually a loosehead who only this CC season was retreaded into a tighthead; the Pumas had arguably the worst scrum in the CC – good luck with this signing.
PAK 418/3
Angostura wrote:
His conversion was a huge success and he had a very good season in that position with numerous carries and work on defence despite being part of a relatively weak scrum. Seems like a perfect fit for the Stormers who often rely more on a mobile type of prop than a pure “powerhouse”.
Agreed with Robzim. Plus he is a youngster so can develop. Also, they probably paid next to nothing for him….
Well then, may I suggest one, Coenie, as the answer to Stormers’ prayers …
Younis Khan out for 213
PAK 537/5
@ Angostura: Coenie isn’t the answer to anyone’s prayers unfortunately…
You beat me to this one on the day GBS, when first heard it wasn’t in position to put article up so was good to logon to do that and see you already had it up. Had been thinking about a catchy play on words type of headline, something like: “Ali BaaBaa’s captain”… (just a subtle reference to the online retail giant, with Al Kellock being a large lock
)
Stormersboy wrote:
They ruined him by playing him out of position in the crucial time of his career, young players need to settle in a position in the first two years of senior rugby
The Bulls did the same with Hougie, and the same happened with Brent Russell and Vlok Cilliers and other talented players
They never really settle in any position afterwards; fortunately Hougie turned it around
IAAS wrote:
Good call bud!
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