Preview: Barbarians vs. Wales - prediction, team news, lineups

The Barbarians face off with Wales at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday afternoon for an international friendly match.

The Baa-Baas fell to a damning 80-31 defeat against a scintillating South African side in their previous outing, while Wales finished their Six Nations campaign with victory over Italy in Cardiff.

Match preview

When travelling to the English capital to face Wales this weekend, the Barbarians will be looking to return to winning ways and bounce back from their heavy defeat against South Africa last Saturday.

Finding themselves 28 points down just over a quarter of the way into the contest, Scott Robertson’s men did well to hit back with three scores before the break, however ended up conceding a further six in the second-half as the Springboks tallied 12 tries and 80 points.

The loss extended the Baa-Baas’ dismal recent run, with the touring side losing six of their previous seven matches and conceding four tries in each of their latest six, amassing a 134-point deficit over that span.

Facing an out of form Welsh team, the Barbarians will see this as a great opportunity to avert their current troubles, though they have never beaten Saturday’s opponents before and lost 49-26 when the sides last met in November 2023.

© Iconsport / PA Images

After going over two years without a competitive victory, Wales won their final outing of this year’s Six Nations campaign, beating Italy 31-17 at the Principality Stadium.

Scoring and converting three unanswered first half tries, Steve Tandy’s men quickly pulled away from Gli Azzuri, though it was not enough to stop them finishing rock bottom of the tournament table for the third consecutive year.

Having lost their prior 15 competitive matches, Wales have shown promising signs of improvement besides their final round victory though, taking matches against both Scotland and Ireland to the wire earlier in the tournament.

Heading into July’s Nations Championship fixtures, Tandy’s side will undoubtedly be looking to capitalise on that turn of momentum against a Barbarians outfit that they have beaten in both of their previous meetings.

Barbarians form (all competitions): 

Wales form (all competitions): 

Team News

© Imago / AFLOSPORT

After starting on the bench last Saturday, Faf de Klerk comes in from the start this weekend, with Andrew Kellaway and Alex Nankivell keeping their place across the backline.

Elliot Dee and Lachlan Boshier are the only ones remaining from the pack against South Africa, as the likes of Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Romain Taofifenua and Vincent Koch are introduced.

George North starts on the bench for the Barbarians and will sign off his illustrious career against his home nation.

The big news for Wales is the reintroduction of Jac Morgan who although will not be captain, starts for the first time since November.

Tandy has also named Ben Warren, Ryan Woodman, Rhys Barratt and Harrison Keddie on the bench, all of whom could make their debuts on Saturday afternoon.

After missing the entire international schedule this season through injury, Teddy Williams returns to the Welsh lineup and will partner Ben Carter in the second row.

Barbarians starting lineup:

15 Spring, 14 Kellaway, 13 Ward, 12 Nankivell, 11 Vakatawa, 10 Plummer, 9 de Klerk; 1 Kharaishvili, 2 Dee, 3 Koch, 4 Rodda, 5 Taofifenua, 6 Salakaia-Loto, 7 Boshier, 8 Hughes 

Replacements:

16 Thacker, 17 Iscaro, 18 Alo-Emile, 19 Tango, 20 Joseph, 21 Arata, 22 North, 23 McConnell

Wales starting lineup:

15 Murray, 14 Rogers, 13 James, 12 Hawkins, 11 Mee, 10 Edwards, 9 Hardy; 1 Thomas, 2 Lake, 3 Lewis, 4 Carter, 5 Williams, 6 Plumtree, 7 Morgans, 8 Wainwright

Replacements:

16 Elias, 17 Barratt, 18 Warren, 19 Woodman, 20 Keddie, 21 Morgan-Williams, 22 Costelow, 23 Grady

We say: Barbarians 30-28 Wales

With both teams struggling for wins recently, Saturday afternoon's contest has all the ingredients to be a great watch at Twickenham Stadium, which is destined to be a high-scoring, end to end match.

However, adding more quality to the side that faced South Africa last weekend, we can see the Barbarians edging over the line in London and claiming their first victory for over two years.