Preview: England v Barbarians
All the pundits will be talking up Sunday's Twickenham encounter between England and the Barbarians as the real deal, but you don't have to read too much between the lines to realise it is little more than a trial match for the hosts.
With the upcoming three-Test tour of South Africa next month – even without a host of frontline players who will feature for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins in the Premiership Final a day earlier – this game gives the coaching staff a chance to put on trial a few aspects of their game.
It is a fact that England will be looking for to put things into place for their tour to South African.
The focus this week has been on getting England right for the tour – a warm-up match for those not involved in the Premiership Final.
A substantial portion of the spotlight will be on new attack coach Mike Catt, who will focus on getting England to play a more expansive game.
People are hoping he can have the same impact at international level as an attack strategist that he had at London Irish – where they ran strike moves and scored tries from all over the park.
This shift in focus follows after the heavy criticism of England's stodgy approach during the Six Nations.
However, England will be careful not to be sucked into a free-for-all unstructured running game that is often employed by the BaaBaas.
The BaaBaas always have a few surprises up their sleeves and will test the England outfit that runs out on Sunday – defensively they will ask some questions, in a department that England prided themselves on in the Six Nations.
England forwards coach Graham Rowntree has warned his charges against dismissing the BaaBaas, pointing to the quality and experience of some of their players.
"I have never seen such a strong BaaBaas squad," Rowntree said.
"They have beaten us a couple of times over the last four years.
"We are certainly treating this as a proper Test and they will be a handful, as they have some big names there as well.
"The magnitude of the game will be a good enough test for where we are at the moment with this group of players we have playing.
"This is our next big game, regardless of what happens the month afterwards [tour to SA], this is our next big game to keep the momentum going," the forwards mentor said.
There will also be some of the spotlight on Phil Dowson, who has been named captain for this non-cap international.
"Phil is one of the key members of our leadership group," Rowntree said of the decision to name Dowson as skipper in place of regular team leader Chris Robshaw, who is involved with Quins in the Premiership Final the day before.
"He coped with the disappointment of being dropped from the [England] starting line-up."
Rowntree described Dowson as selfless: "He is a giver – his energy, even when he is not in the squad.
"There are a few guys we could give the captaincy to but we feel Dows is right for this game."
South Africa's World Cup-winning captain John Smit leads the Barbarians, who feature ex-England internationals Mike Tindall, Paul Sackey and Iain Balshaw.
Scotland's Rory Lawson and Johnnie Beattie will also start in the match.
Teams:
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Phil Dowson (captain), 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Matt Stevens.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Joe Launchbury, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Jonathan Joseph, 22 Alex Goode.
Barbarians: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ian Balshaw, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 John Beattie, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Afoa, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements: 16 Benoit August, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Raphael Lakafia, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Felipe Contepomi, 22 Sailosi Tagicakibau.
Date: Sunday, May 27
Kick-off: 14.30 (13.30 GMT)
Venue: Twickenham, London
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
