'New Lomu' named in Baa-Baas squad
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:41
Big-hitting Tongan back row forward Epi Taione and giant Australian Under-20 wing sensation Ratu Nasiganiyavi have been included in the Barbarians squad to face a Queensland XV at Ballymore on Sunday.
Early signing Justin Marshall has been forced out by an Achilles injury, but the former All Black scrumhalf's place will be filled by Reds and Wallaby No.9 Sam Cordingley.
Barbarians team manager Daniel Herbert said the loss of Marshall will be well covered by Cordingley and Fiji captain and 2007 World Cup star Moses Rauluni, who will provide a testing afternoon at the scrumbase for Queensland youngsters Ben Lucas and Brendan McKibbin - as will the presence of Epi Taione.
"Epi and Moses were two of the best five players at last year's Rugby World Cup and they'll both be playing this game hard and fast, as they usually do," Herbert said.
"Out wide, Nasiganiyavi should prove a big hit with the crowd. He's a cousin of Lote Tuqiri and the commentators at the recent Junior World Cup in Wales were comparing him to a young Jonah Lomu."
Former Queensland-based players Mitchell Chapman (Brumbies), Scott Daruda (Western Force) and Jeremy Paul (Gloucester) will be back in Brisbane for the Barbarians, while former Reds and Wallaby No.8 Toutai Kefu is making the trip from Japan for the match, which is a fund-raiser for his old club Souths, as well as to finance an end-of-season development tour for the Reds.
Wallaby fullback Mark Gerrard is in the side, as are recently retired World Cup winning England wing Dan Luger, former All Black No.8 Scott Robertson and Argentina flyhalf Gonzalo Quesada.
Jones and his assistant Alec Evans will run their first training session at Ballymore on Thursday with the starting side and captain to be named closer to the game.
The nostalgic "back to Ballymore" match will be a Sunday celebration of Ballymore as the home of Queensland Rugby, with old-style pre-match boot parties in the carpark and a free post match concert starring James Reyne.
The Barbarians squad (in alphabetical order):
Mitchell Chapman (lock/No.6) Brumbies, Sam Cordingley (scrumhalf) Reds, Pek Cowan (prop) Force, Scott Daruda (flyhalf/centre) Force, Mark Gerrard (fullback/wing) Brumbies, Ben Gollings (flyhalf) Sunnybank/England Sevens, Jason Harrington (lock/No.6) Australian Services RU, Toutai Kefu (No.8), Kubota, Japan, Dan Luger (wing/centre) England, Salesi Maafu (prop) Brumbies, Zane Mitchell (outside centre) ASRU, Ratu Nasiganiyavi (wing) Waratahs, Daniel Palmer (prop) Waratahs, Jeremy Paul (hooker) Gloucester, Gonzalo Quesada (flyhalf) Argentina, Moses Rauluni (scrumhalf) Fiji/Saracens (UK), Scott Robertson (No.8), NZ, Beau Robinson (No.7) Waratahs, Epi Taione (No.6) Tonga/Sharks, Sitaleki Timani (lock/No.6) Brumbies, John Ulugia (hooker) Brumbies, Nathan Williams (outside centre) Stingrays.
