Preview - England v Barbarians

While the big cats are away...

England players facing the star-studded Barbarians on Saturday have been urged to use the Twickenham clash as an opportunity to force themselves into the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad.

No caps will be awarded for the showpiece end-of-season game but there could be much bigger prizes on the line according to coach Joe Lydon, who is in charge because Andy Robinson is preparing for the Lions' tour to New Zealand.

"It's important for us not only to view this as the short-term goal of the weekend but also longer term to look across a two or three-year spectrum including the World Cup," said Lydon, who is also in charge for next month's Churchill Cup tour to Canada.

In the absence of their Lions stars, England have handed opportunities to some new faces and given some old faces the opportunity to re-establish themselves.

Scrum-half Andy Gomersall, who was part of the triumphant squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and Worcester skipper Pat Sanderson are among the players who will feature against the Barbarians.

"Some players are established, some have international experience and have been capped and some haven't - we are just looking to get the blend right and look forward," said Lydon.

"This is not a cap game but it's a Test match as far as we are concerned. These guys are quality opposition.

"We are looking at this as an important warm-up for the Churchill Cup.

"The tour is also important. There isn't any need to motivate and encourage these players to play.

"They have the quality of opposition, and they have got the challenge of the opportunity."

The Barbarians - much changed from this week's team beaten by Scotland - include the calibre of next season's Northampton Saints half-back pairing of Kiwis Carlos Spencer and Mark Robinson, Australia's Wendell Sailor, Sale Sharks No.8 Sebastien Chabal and former England pack stars Simon Shaw and Mark Regan in a team led by ex-South Africa captain Corné Krige.

"The only thing we can gain from watching them against Scotland on Tuesday is that they lost and the number of changes Bob Dwyer has made shows how committed they are to performing at Twickenham," Lydon added.

"Make no mistake we have the ultimate respect for the Barbarians but they are a bit like us in that they are coming together as a team.

"They have quality individual but it's how they perform as a team on Saturday that matters.

"They will want to entertain and play rugby but they want to play winning rugby and so do we.

"We have had limited time together as a squad but it's a great way to start our preparation for the tour."

Lydon was an interested spectator at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Monday night to watch Argentina, one of England's Churchill Cup opponents, hold the Lions to a draw in their one match before Sir Clive Woodward's men depart for New Zealand.

"If we do manage to play them in the Churchill Cup final it will be the match to finish off the tour with a solid and tough performance.

"The Pumas proved to us that with team spirit and attitude and a collective belief in their mental attitude and physical attitude they have the ability to compete with the best in the world.

"We will be looking to put those same attributes into our game on Saturday."

The teams:

England: 15 Tom Voyce (London Wasps), 14 Paul Sackey (London Wasps), 13 Ayoola  Erinle (London Wasps), 12 Jamie Noon( Newcastle Falcons), 11 James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), 10 Andy Goode (Leicester Tigers), 9 Andy Gomarsall (Gloucester), 8 Hugh Vyvyan (Saracens), 7 Pat Sanderson (Worcester Warriors, captain), 6 Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), 5 Tom Palmer (Leeds Tykes), 4 Louis  Deacon (Leicester Tigers), 3 Micky Ward (Newcastle Falcons), 2 George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), 1 Mike Worsley (NEC Harlequins).
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears (Bath), 17 Robbie Morris (Northampton Saints), 18 Stuart Hooper (Leeds Tykes), 19 James Forrester (Gloucester), 20 Peter Richards (London Wasps), 21 Sam Vesty (Leicester Tigers), 22 Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons).

Barbarians: 15 Brent Russell (South Africa), 14 Wendell Sailor (Australia), 13 Thomas Castaignède (France), 12 Trevor Halstead (South Africa), 11 Bruce Reihana (New Zealand), 10 Carlos Spencer (New Zealand), 9 Mark Robinson ( New Zealand), 8 Johnny O'Connor (Ireland), 7 Sebastien Chabal (France), 6 Corné Krige (South Africa), 5 Selborne Boome (South Africa), 4 Simon Shaw (England), 3 Cobus Visagie (South Africa), 2 Mark Regan (England), 1 Tom Smith (Scotland)
Replacements: Raphael Ibanez (France), Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy), AJ Venter (South Africa), Semo Sititi (Samoa), Bryan Redpath (Scotland), David Humphreys (Ireland), Girvan Dempsey (Ireland).

Date: Saturday, May 28
Kick-off: 15.00 (14.00 GMT)
Venue: Twickenham
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Nigel Williams (Wales), Carlo Damasco (Italy) 
Television match official: David Changleng (Scotland)