Harlequins have named its matchday squad for Saturday’s blockbuster friendly against the Barbarians at The Stoop (KO 14:15 – tickets here).
The 25-player squad features a combined 1,167 first-team appearances, with Club Captain Stephan Lewies returning to lead the side, and Welsh international Jarrod Evans named to make his first Quins appearance.
In the forwards, Academy hooker Nathan Jibulu earns a start alongside props Fix Baxter and Will Collier. Joe Launchbury locks down with Stephan Lewies at second-row. Luke Wallace returns at blindside, with Will Evans named at openside and Alex Dombrandt at number eight.
In the backs, Will Porter makes his second appearance, joining Jarrod Evans in the halves. Last week’s Player of the Match Luke Northmore resumes at inside centre, with Will Joseph earning his third consecutive start. The back three features a return for Oscar Beard and Tyrone Green, with Nick David named at fullback.
Amongst the Impact Players, there’s returns for prop Lovejoy Chawatama, scrum-half Max Green, and wing Cassius Cleaves.
Director of Rugby Billy Millard commented: “It’s always exciting to face the Barbarians at home. Last year was a great occasion and we’re looking forward to another good afternoon of rugby. We’ve trained hard this week, and the squad are ready to put in a strong performance. We were pleased with the win over Saracens but there’s parts of our game that we need to improve.”
Harlequins Starting XV: 1. Fin Baxter 2. Nathan Jibulu 3. Will Collier 4. Joe Launchbury 5. Stephan Lewies (Captain) 6. Luke Wallace 7. Will Evans 8. Alex Dombrandt 9. Will Porter 10. Jarrod Evans 11. Oscar Beard 12. Luke Northmore 13. Will Joseph 14. Tyrone Green 15. Nick David
Impact Players: 16. Sam Riley 17. Jordan Els 18. Lovejoy Chawatama 19. Irne Herbst 20. George Hammond 21. James Chisholm 22. Max Green 23. Connor Slevin 24. Lennox Anyanwu 25. Cassius Cleaves
Barbarians Starting XV: 1. Tom Lambert 2. Lachlan Lonergan 3. Sam Talakai 4. Ned Hanigan 5. Cadeyrn Neville 6. Lachie Swinton 7. Seru Uru 8. Harry Wilson 9. Ryan Lonergan (Captain) 10. Jack Debreczeni 11. Dylan Pietsch 12. Filipo Daugunu 13. Len Ikitau 14. Taichi Takahashi 15. Tom Wright
Impact Players: 16. Shunta Nakamura 17. Kenta Kobayashi 18. Harry Johnson-Holmes 19. Josh Canham 20. Uwe Helu 21. Jack Tuttle 22. Nick McCurran 23. Damien Hoyland