The Australian Barbarians will field a team of young, up-and-coming stars when they take on Queensland A in the curtain raiser to this Saturday's Super 12 match between The Reds and The Sharks.
The Barbarians team includes several players who have represented their state or Australia at either the Under 19 or Under 21 level, with former Waratah Jason Madz the most experienced member of the side.
The game will give some of Australia's rising stars the chance to be exposed to a big game environment.
"There are some young guys in this side who have the chance to take a big step up. Most of the team were standout performers in the Premier Rugby competitions in both Sydney and Brisbane last year, and you are likely to hear a lot more about them in the future," said coach Steve Rowley
Team: 1 Herman Hunt - University of Queensland, 2 Grant Anderson - Gold Coast Breakers, 3 James Lakepa - Manly; 4 Matt Wendall - Gold Coast Breakers, 5 Will Caldwell - University of Sydney; 6 Dean Mumm - University of Sydney, 7 Simon Price - Brothers, 8 Matt Stafford - Gold Coast Breakers; 9 David Collis - Brothers, 10 Anthony Sawer - Brothers; 11 Ben Batger - Eastwood, 12 David MacCallum - University of Queensland, 13 Jason Madz - Gold Coast Breakers, 14 James Hilgendorf - Eastwood; 15 Peter Hewatt - Manly
Reserves: 16 Richard Nyholt - University of Queensland, 17 Zane Hilton - Brothers, 18 Ashley Elphinstone - University of Queensland, 19 Darren Murphy - Brothers, 20 Toby Spencer - University of Queensland, 21 Donovan Slade - GPS, 22 Peter Loli - GPS