Barbarian F.C.

Barbarian

Full name	Barbarian Football Club
Nickname(s)	Baa-Baas
Founded	1890; 134 years ago (1890) [1]
Coach(es)	Eddie Jones
Most appearances	Tony O'Reilly (30)
Top scorer	Tony O'Reilly (38 tries)
Team kit
First match
Hartlepool Rovers 4–9 Barbarians (27 December 1890)[2]
Largest win
Belgium  10–84 Barbarians (24 May 2008)
Largest defeat
England XV  73–12 Barbarians (31 May 2015)[3]
Official website
www.barbarianfc.co.uk

The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip.^[4] Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, players from 31 countries had played for them.^[5] Traditionally at least one uncapped player is selected for each match.^[4][6]

Until rugby union became a professional sport, the Barbarians usually played six annual matches: with Penarth, Cardiff, Swansea and Newport at Easter; a game with Leicester on 27 December and the Mobbs Memorial Match against East Midlands in the spring. In 1948, the Barbarians were invited to face Australia as part of the Wallabies' tour of Britain, Ireland and France. Although initially designed as a fundraiser towards the end of the tour, the encounter became a popular and traditional fixture. Initially played every three years, it has become more frequent in the professional era, with the Barbarians now often playing one of the national teams visiting Britain each autumn.

On 29 May 2011, at halftime in the Barbarians' match against England at Twickenham, the Barbarians and their founder William Percy Carpmael were honoured with induction to the IRB Hall of Fame.^[7] A women's team was established in 2017.

Many rugby clubs around the world are based on the Barbarians model of an invitational scratch team, including the French Barbarians, Australian Barbarians, New Zealand Barbarians and South African Barbarians.

The Barbarian Club was formed by William Percy Carpmael, who had played rugby for Cambridge University,^[8] and had been part of the Cambridge team which had undertaken a tour of Yorkshire in 1884.^[9] Inspired by the culture behind short rugby tours he organised his first tour in 1889 with Clapham Rovers,^[9] which was followed by an 1890 tour with an invitational team calling themselves the Southern Nomads.^[10] At the time practically every club ceased playing in early March; there were no tours and players just 'packed up' until the following season. In 1890 he took the Southern Nomads – mainly composed of players from Blackheath – on a tour of some northern counties of England.

His idea – collecting a touring side from all sources to tackle a few leading clubs in the land – received strong support from leading players, particularly ex-university players. On 8 April 1890, in Leuchters Restaurant and later at the Alexandra Hotel in Bradford, the concept of the Barbarians was agreed upon.^[11] The team toured later that year and beat Hartlepool Rovers 9–4 on 27 December in their first fixture.^[12]

The team was given the motto by Walter Julius Carey, former Bishop of Bloemfontein and a former member of the Barbarians:

Rugby Football is a game for gentlemen in all classes, but for no bad sportsman in any class^[13][14]

The concept took hold over the years and the nearest thing to a club home came to be the Esplanade Hotel at Penarth in South Wales, where the Barbarians always stayed on their Easter tours of Wales.^[15] The annual Good Friday game against the Barbarians was the highlight of the Penarth club's year and was always attended by enthusiastic capacity crowds. This fixture marked the start of the Baa-Baas' annual South Wales tour from their "spiritual home" of Penarth, which also included playing Cardiff RFC on the Saturday, Swansea RFC on Easter Monday and Newport RFC on the Tuesday.

The non-match day of Easter Sunday would always see the Barbarians playing golf at the Glamorganshire Golf Club,^[16] in Penarth, while the former Esplanade Hotel, which was located on the seafront at Penarth, would host the gala party for the trip, sponsored by Penarth RFC. The first match took place in 1901,^[15] and over the next 75 encounters, Penarth won eleven games, drew four and lost 60. Between 1920 and the first Athletics Field game in 1925, the Good Friday games were hosted on Penarth County Grammar School's sports field.

The final Penarth v Barbarians game was played in 1986, by which time the Penarth club had slipped from its prominent position in Welsh rugby. However, a special commemorative game, recognising the 100 years since the first Good Friday match, took place in 2001 and was played at the Athletic Field next to the Penarth clubhouse the day before the Barbarians played Wales at the Millennium Stadium. Gary Teichmann, captain of South Africa and the Barbarians, unveiled a plaque at the clubhouse to mark the event.

After the Second World War, in 1948, the Barbarians were asked by the British and Irish unions to raise a side to play the touring Australia team, to raise funds for the Australians' journey home via Canada.^[12] This started the tradition of the "Final Challenge" – played as the last match in a tour of Britain and Ireland by Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.

The Barbarian 'Final Challenge' match with the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park on 27 January 1973 is celebrated as one of the best games of rugby union ever played.^[17] It was a game of attack and counterattack, and the Barbarians won the match 23–11, handing the All Blacks their fourth defeat of the tour. Gareth Edwards scored a try widely considered to be one of the best ever in rugby union.

Cliff Morgan described Gareth Edwards' try:

Kirkpatrick to Williams. This is great stuff! Phil Bennett covering chased by Alistair Scown. Brilliant, oh, that's brilliant! John Williams, Bryan Williams. Pullin. John Dawes, great dummy. To David, Tom David, the half-way line! Brilliant by Quinnell! This is Gareth Edwards! A dramatic start! What a score!!.....Oh that fellow Edwards....If the greatest writer of the written word would've written that story no one would have believed it. That really was something.^[18]

Gareth Edwards said of the match:

People tend only to remember the first four minutes of the game because of the try, but what they forgot is the great deal of good rugby played afterwards, much of which came from the All Blacks. For us after the success of the 1971 British Lions tour, which captured the imagination of the whole country, it was an opportunity to bring a lot of that side together again.

The nature of the Barbarians as a touring side made for a diverse fixture list, but at a number of points in the club's history they have settled for a time into a regular pattern. Most of these regular matches have fallen by the wayside, whilst others continue to the present day:

• 27 December game against Leicester Tigers – this began in 1909 as the third and final match of the Christmas Tour. It was played for the last time as a regular fixture in March 2006^[19] but returned in November 2014 when the Barbarians beat Leicester 59–26 in their 125th anniversary season.^[20]
• The Edgar Mobbs Memorial Match – held for Edgar Mobbs, who was killed in the First World War. Played at Franklins Gardens against Northampton Saints, Bedford Blues or the East Midlands select XV. The first took place on 10 February 1921, and in later years became a tradition on the first Thursday in March. The last Mobbs Match to feature the Barbarians took place in April 2011. Since then, the invited opposition has been a British Army side instead of the Barbarians.^[21]
• Easter Tour – traditionally four matches against Penarth RFC (Good Friday), Cardiff RFC/Cardiff Blues (Holy Saturday); Swansea RFC (Easter Monday) and Newport RFC (Tuesday following Easter Monday). The Penarth match was dropped after 1986 as a regular fixture although in 2001 a special commemorative game, recognising 100 years since the first Good Friday match, was played at the Athletic Field next to the Penarth clubhouse the day before the Barbarians played Wales at the Millennium Stadium. The game against Newport was moved away from Easter after the 1982 fixture due to problems fielding a team for the fourth match of the tour^[22] and was played as a midweek game early in the season from September 1982 onwards.^[23] The Barbarians last played Newport in November 1996.
• The Final Challenge – played as the last match in a tour of the UK by Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. Initially played every three years, these games have become more frequent in the professional era. The fixture on 3 December 2008 between the Barbarians and Australia was played at Wembley Stadium, the first rugby union match played there since its redevelopment.
• Remembrance Day game against the Combined Services, played in November. The fixture was first played in 1997 and the most recent game, in 2014, resulted in a 31–15 win for the Barbarians.^[24]

They typically compete against teams from the home nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) as well as other international sides. Other matches are played against club teams, often to celebrate anniversaries. The 2014–15 fixture list included matches against Leicester Tigers and Heriot's Rugby Club in addition to the Final Challenge game with Australia and the annual Combined Services match.^[25] The Heriot's game celebrated the 125th anniversary of both that club and the Barbarians,^[26] while the Leicester game was also part of the Barbarians' 125th anniversary schedule.^[27] The Barbarians were also invited to play in the first ever Rugby match at the London Olympic Stadium in 2015 against Samoa.

Australia was approached by the British Olympic Association to play the Barbarians at Wembley Stadium on 3 December 2008. The match formed part of the BOA's programme of events to celebrate the centenary of the first London Olympic Games where Australia defeated a Great Britain (Cornwall) side in the final 32–3.^[28] In 1908 France were the defending Olympic champions, but when they withdrew from the event, leaving just Australia and Great Britain to contest the gold medal, it was then County champions Cornwall who took to the field to represent the host nation. Cornwall had already been defeated in Australia's earlier 31-match tour. Cornwall's 1908 contribution was also further recognised by the presentation of the Cornwall Cup to the winning 2008 captain at Wembley, with the players of the respective sides receiving gold or silver commemorative medals. The 2008 game was the first rugby union fixture to take place in the new Wembley Stadium.^[29] Australia went on to win 18 points to 11.

In a change to the tradition of the Barbarians players wearing their own club socks, in this game, they all wore Cornwall's black and gold socks. The break with the tradition was highly regarded by the secretary of the Cornwall Rugby Football Union, Alan Mitchell, who was said to have been humbled by the honour.^[29]

In October 2017 a women's team was announced for the first time in the club's history.^[30] Their first match was a 19–0 victory against Munster on 10 November 2017, played as part of a double header with the men's team playing Tonga.^[31] They subsequently played a match against the British Army in March 2018, winning 37–0.^[32]

Their first-ever match against international competition saw six tries scored in a 34–33 victory against the USA at Infinity Park in the Denver suburb of Glendale, Colorado.^[33][34] On 2 June 2019, Barbarians Women took on England at Twickenham as the prelude to a men's Barbarians match against an England XV (non-cap match)^[35] losing the contest 40–14 (two tries scored to six conceded).^[36][37] They went on to beat Wales at the Principality Stadium 43–33 on 30 November 2019 scoring 5 tries to 3 conceded.^[38][37]

The Barbarian F.C. have played men's international matches since 1915 and women's international matches since 2019.^[39]

Gender	Opposing Teams	For	Against	Result	Date	Venue	City	Competition
Men	Wales	26	10	Won	17 April 1915	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Tour match To raise 'patriotic funds'
Men	Australia	9	6	Won	31 January 1948	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	South Africa	3	17	Lost	26 January 1952	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	New Zealand	5	19	Lost	20 February 1954	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Australia	11	6	Won	22 February 1958	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	East Africa	52	12	Won	28 May 1958	RFUEA Ground	Nairobi	Tour match
Men	South Africa	6	0	Won	4 February 1961	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Canada	3	3	Draw	17 November 1962	Gosforth Greyhound Stadium	Gosforth	Tour match
Men	New Zealand	3	36	Lost	15 February 1964	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Australia	11	17	Lost	30 January 1967	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	New Zealand	6	11	Lost	16 December 1967	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	Rhodesia	24	21	Won	26 May 1969	Police Grounds	Salisbury	Tour match
Men	South Africa	12	21	Lost	31 January 1970	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Scotland	33	17	Won	9 May 1970	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match In aid of 1970 British Commonwealth Games
Men	Fiji	9	29	Lost	24 October 1970	Gosforth Greyhound Stadium	Gosforth	Final Challenge
Men	New Zealand	23	11	Won	27 January 1973	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	New Zealand	13	13	Draw	30 November 1974	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	Australia	19	7	Won	24 January 1976	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Canada	29	4	Won	12 June 1976	York Stadium	Toronto	Tour match
Men	British Lions	14	23	Lost	10 September 1977	Twickenham	London	Silver Jubilee Match
Men	New Zealand	16	18	Lost	16 December 1978	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Scotland	26	13	Won	26 March 1983	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	Australia	30	37	Lost	15 December 1984	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Italy	23	15	Won	26 May 1985	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Tour match
Men	Australia	22	40	Lost	26 November 1988	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	New Zealand	10	21	Lost	25 November 1989	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	England	16	18	Lost	29 September 1990	Twickenham	London	Tour match Centenary celebrations
Men	Wales	31	24	Won	6 October 1990	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Tour match Centenary celebrations
Men	Argentina	34	22	Won	17 November 1990	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Scotland	16	16	Draw	7 September 1991	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	Russia	23	27	Lost	6 June 1992	Lokomotiv	Moscow	Tour match
Men	Australia	20	30	Lost	28 November 1992	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	New Zealand	12	25	Lost	4 December 1993	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Zimbabwe	21	23	Lost	4 June 1994	Police Grounds	Harare	Tour match
Men	South Africa	23	15	Won	3 December 1994	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Final Challenge
Men	Ireland	70	38	Won	19 May 1996	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Tour match Peace International
Men	Scotland	48	45	Won	17 August 1996	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match Dunblane Disaster Fund Match
Men	Wales	10	31	Lost	24 August 1996	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Tour match Fully capped match for Wales
Men	Australia	12	39	Lost	7 December 1996	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	Ireland	31	30	Won	28 May 2000	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Tour match
Men	Scotland	45	42	Won	31 May 2000	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	Germany	47	19	Won	12 August 2000	Eilenriedestadion	Hanover	Tour match German Rugby Federation Centenary Match
Men	South Africa	31	41	Lost	10 December 2000	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	Wales	40	38	Won	20 May 2001	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Tour match
Men	Scotland	74	31	Won	24 May 2001	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	England	43	29	Won	27 May 2001	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Australia	35	49	Lost	28 November 2001	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Men	England	29	53	Lost	26 May 2002	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Wales	40	25	Won	29 May 2002	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Tour match
Men	Scotland	47	27	Won	1 June 2002	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	England	49	36	Won	25 May 2003	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Scotland	24	15	Won	28 May 2003	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	Wales	48	35	Won	1 June 2003	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Tour match
Men	Scotland	40	33	Won	22 May 2004	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	Wales	0	42	Lost	27 May 2004	Ashton Gate	Bristol	Tour match
Men	England	32	12	Won	30 May 2004	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Portugal	66	34	Won	10 June 2004	Universitário Lisboa	Lisbon	Tour match
Men	New Zealand	19	47	Lost	4 December 2004	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	Scotland	7	38	Lost	24 May 2005	Pittodrie	Aberdeen	Tour match
Men	England	52	39	Won	28 May 2005	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	England	19	46	Lost	28 May 2006	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Scotland	19	66	Lost	31 May 2006	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour match
Men	Georgia	28	19	Won	4 June 2006	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium	Tbilisi	Tour match
Men	Tunisia	33	10	Won	19 May 2007	Stade El Menzah	Tunis	Tour match
Men	Spain	52	26	Won	23 May 2007	Martínez Valero	Elche	Tour match
Men	South Africa	22	5	Won	1 December 2007	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	Belgium	84	10	Won	24 May 2008	Stade Roi Baudouin	Brussels	Tour match
Men	Ireland	14	39	Lost	27 May 2008	Kingsholm	Gloucester	Tour match
Men	England	14	17	Lost	1 June 2008	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Australia	11	18	Lost	3 December 2008	Wembley Stadium	London	Final Challenge / Cornwall Cup
Men	England	33	26	Won	3 May 2009	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Australia	7	55	Lost	6 June 2009	Sydney Football Stadium	Sydney	Tour match[40]
Men	New Zealand	25	18	Won	5 December 2009	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	England	26	35	Lost	30 May 2010	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Ireland	29	23	Won	4 June 2010	Thomond Park	Limerick	Tour match
Men	South Africa	26	20	Won	4 December 2010	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	England	38	32	Won	29 May 2011	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Wales	31	28	Won	4 June 2011	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Tour match Celebration of 130th anniversary of the WRU; fully capped match for Wales
Men	Australia	11	60	Lost	26 November 2011	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Men	England	26	57	Lost	27 May 2012	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Ireland	29	28	Won	29 May 2012	Kingsholm Stadium	Gloucester	Tour match
Men	Wales	21	30	Lost	2 June 2012	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Tour match Fully capped match for Wales
Men	England	12	40	Lost	26 May 2013	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	British & Irish Lions	8	59	Lost	1 June 2013	Hong Kong Stadium	Hong Kong	Lions tour match [41]
Men	Fiji	43	17	Won	30 November 2013	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	England	39	29	Won	1 June 2014	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Australia	36	40	Lost	1 November 2014	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Ireland	22	21	Won	28 May 2015	Thomond Park	Limerick	Tour match
Men	England	12	73	Lost	31 May 2015	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Samoa	27	24	Won	29 August 2015	Olympic Stadium	London	Tour match
Men	Argentina	31	49	Lost	21 November 2015	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	South Africa	31	31	Draw	5 November 2016	Wembley Stadium	London	Tour match
Men	Czech Republic	71	0	Won	8 November 2016	Markéta Stadium	Prague	Tour match Celebration of 90th anniversary of the Czech Rugby Union
Men	Fiji	40	7	Won	11 November 2016	Ravenhill Stadium	Belfast	Tour match
Men	England	14	28	Lost	28 May 2017	Twickenham	London	Tour match Old Mutual Wealth Cup
Men	Australia	28	31	Lost	28 October 2017	Sydney Football Stadium	Sydney	Tour match
Men	New Zealand	22	31	Lost	4 November 2017	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Tonga	27	24	Won	10 November 2017	Thomond Park	Limerick	Tour match
Men	England	63	45	Won	28 May 2018	Twickenham	London	Tour match Quilter Cup
Men	Argentina	38	35	Won	1 December 2018	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Women	United States	34	33	Won	26 April 2019	Infinity Park	Glendale, Colorado	Tour match
Women	England	14	40	Lost	2 June 2019	Twickenham	London	Tour match Double-header
Men	England	43	51	Lost
Men	Fiji	31	33	Lost	16 November 2019	Twickenham	London	Tour match
Men	Brazil	47	22	Won	20 November 2019	Estádio do Morumbi	São Paulo	Tour match
Women	Wales	29	15	Won	30 November 2019	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Tour match Double-header
Men	Wales	33	43	Lost
Men	England	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	25 October 2020	Twickenham	London	Quilter Cup Moved from June fixture due to COVID-19 Pandemic Cancelled on 23 October 2020 due to players breaking COVID rules[42]
Women	South Africa	60	5	Won	27 November 2021	Twickenham	London	Tour match Double-header Killik Cup
Men	Samoa	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled
Men	England	52	21	Won	19 June 2022	Twickenham	London	Quilter Cup
Men	Spain	26	7	Won	25 June 2022	El Molinón	Gijón
Men	All Blacks XV	35	31	Won	13 November 2022	Tottenham Hotspur Stadium	London	Killik Cup
Men	World XV	48	42	Won	28 May 2023	Twickenham	London	Killik Cup
Men	Samoa	14	28	Lost	18 August 2023	Stade Amédée-Domenech	Brive-la-Gaillarde	Tour match
Women	South Africa	38	26	Won	23 September 2023	Athlone Stadium	Cape Town	Tour match
Men	Fiji	45	32	Won	22 June 2024	Twickenham	London	Tour match

Match summary as of 1 July 2024

Gender	Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %
Men	Argentina	3	2	1	0	66.66%
Men	Australia	14	3	11	0	21.43%
Men	Belgium	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Brazil	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Canada	2	1	0	1	50.00%
Men	Czech Republic	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	East Africa	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	England	19	9	10	0	47.36%
Women	England	1	0	1	0	0.00%
Men	Fiji	5	2	2	0	60.00%
Men	Georgia	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Germany	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Ireland	6	5	1	0	83.33%
Men	Italy	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	British & Irish Lions	2	0	2	0	0.00%
Men	New Zealand	11	2	8	1	18.18%
Men	Portugal	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Russia	1	0	1	0	0.00%
Men	Samoa	2	1	1	0	50.00%
Men	Scotland	11	8	2	1	72.72%
Men	South Africa	8	4	3	1	50.00%
Women	South Africa	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Men	Spain	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Men	Tonga	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Tunisia	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Women	United States	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Wales	10	6	4	0	60.00%
Women	Wales	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Men	Zimbabwe (& Rhodesia)	2	1	1	0	50.00%
Men	Total	101	54	43	4	53.47%
Women	Total	4	3	1	0	75.00%
Both	TOTAL	105	57	44	4	54.29%

Men's Barbarians squad to face Spain on 25 June.

Head coach: Eddie Jones

Note: Bold denotes players that have represented the Barbarians in previous matches. Italics represents uncapped players.

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Club/province Union Scott Baldwin Hooker (1988-07-12) 12 July 1988 (age 36) Ospreys Wales Kirby Myhill Hooker (1992-02-05) 5 February 1992 (age 32) Cardiff Wales Scott Andrews Prop (1989-08-01) 1 August 1989 (age 35) Cardiff Wales Ed Byrne Prop (1993-09-09) 9 September 1993 (age 31) Leinster Ireland Allan Dell Prop (1992-03-16) 16 March 1992 (age 32) London Irish Scotland Charlie Faumuina Prop (1986-12-24) 24 December 1986 (age 38) Toulouse New Zealand Wiehahn Herbst Prop (1988-07-05) 5 July 1988 (age 36) Sharks South Africa Steve Mafi Lock (1989-12-09) 9 December 1989 (age 35) London Irish Tonga Joe Tekori Lock (1983-12-17) 17 December 1983 (age 41) Toulouse Samoa Devin Toner Lock (1986-06-29) 29 June 1986 (age 38) Leinster Ireland Dan Baker Back row (1992-07-05) 5 July 1992 (age 32) Dragons Wales James Botham Back row (1998-02-22) 22 February 1998 (age 26) Cardiff Wales Rob Harley Back row (1990-05-26) 26 May 1990 (age 34) Glasgow Warriors Scotland Abraham Papali'i Back row (1993-06-20) 20 June 1993 (age 31) Connacht New Zealand Tom Wood Back row (1986-11-03) 3 November 1986 (age 38) Northampton Saints England Sébastien Bézy Scrum-half (1991-11-27) 27 November 1991 (age 33) Clermont Auvergne France Mathis Galthié Scrum-half (2001-11-18) 18 November 2001 (age 23) Colomiers France Tim Nanai-Williams Fly-half (1989-06-12) 12 June 1989 (age 35) Toulouse Samoa Hadleigh Parkes Centre (1987-10-05) 5 October 1987 (age 37) Saitama Wild Knights Wales Rey Lee-Lo Centre (1986-02-28) 28 February 1986 (age 38) Cardiff Samoa Seabelo Senatla Wing (1993-02-10) 10 February 1993 (age 31) Stormers South Africa Adam Byrne Wing (1994-04-10) 10 April 1994 (age 30) Leinster Ireland Owen Lane Wing (1997-12-20) 20 December 1997 (age 27) Cardiff Wales Rhyno Smith Wing (1993-02-11) 11 February 1993 (age 31) Benetton South Africa Ahsee Tuala Fullback (1989-08-23) 23 August 1989 (age 35) Northampton Saints Samoa

Women's Barbarians squad to face South Africa on 23 September 2023 and Munster on 30 September 2023.

Head coach: Sean Lynn ( Gloucester-Hartpury)

Note: Italics represents uncapped players. Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Club/province Union Ciara O'Connor Hooker (1988-12-16) 16 December 1988 (age 36) Ponsonby Fillies Ireland Joanna Kitlinski Hooker (1988-07-05) 5 July 1988 (age 36) Colorado Gray Wolves United States May Campbell Hooker (1996-05-16) 16 May 1996 (age 28) Saracens England Lindsay Peat Prop (1980-11-05) 5 November 1980 (age 44) Railway Union Ireland Kathryn Buggy Prop (1987-09-01) 1 September 1987 (age 37) Gloucester-Hartpury Ireland Liz Crake Prop (1994-11-08) 8 November 1994 (age 30) Trailfinders England Beth Stafford Lock Bristol Bears England Ciara Cooney Lock (1988-01-18) 18 January 1988 (age 36) Harlequins Ireland Eloise Blackwell Lock (1990-12-28) 28 December 1990 (age 33) Ponsonby Fillies New Zealand Victoria Fleetwood Back row (1990-04-13) 13 April 1990 (age 34) Retired England Christiana Balogun Back row Bristol Bears Kaleigh Searcy Back row Sale Sharks Ciara Griffin Back row (1994-01-10) 10 January 1994 (age 30) UL Bohemians Ireland Sara Barattin Back row (1986-09-11) 11 September 1986 (age 38) Retired Italy Ailsa Hughes Scrum-half (1991-08-18) 18 August 1991 (age 33) Railway Union Ireland Patricia García Scrum-half (1989-12-02) 2 December 1989 (age 35) Retired Spain Elinor Snowsill Fly-half (1989-06-27) 27 June 1989 (age 35) Retired Wales Gemma Rowland Centre (1989-02-07) 7 February 1989 (age 35) Wasps Wales Katie Alder Centre Wasps England Megan Gaffney Wing (1991-12-03) 3 December 1991 (age 33) Heriot's Scotland Maria Magatti Wing (1992-08-21) 21 August 1992 (age 32) Benetton Rugby Italy Carla Hohepa Wing (1985-07-27) 27 July 1985 (age 39) Kihikihi Rugby Club New Zealand Elizabeth Goulden Fullback Gloucester-Hartpury New Zealand Mary Healy Fullback Galwegians RFC Ireland