Jean to skipper Barbarians
The Baa-Baas, with nine Boks in their squad, will take on Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday (kick-off 16h30 – SA time) with a South African captain (in De Villiers) and a New Zealand coach in the shape of Steve Hansen.
The official Barbarians Rugby Twitter account (Barbarian_FC) confirmed De Villiers’s appointment on Monday afternoon, saying: “Jean de Villiers confirmed as skipper. #baabaas have All Black coach & Springbok capt. Powerful.”
Of course, Jean will turn out alongside long-time DHL WP and Stormers teammates Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen on Saturday, as well as fellow Bok teammates Willie le Roux, Pat Lambie, lock Flip van der Merwe, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and props Beast Mtawarira and Coenie Oosthuizen.
DHL Stormers fans will also have an opportunity to see new signing Manuel Carizza in action, the powerhouse Argentina second row also named in the 23-man playing squad.
The Barbarians matchday squad (23): Willie le Roux, Santiago Cordero, Charles Piutau, Frank Halai, Jean de Villiers (captain), Gavin Williams, Pat Lambie, Tom Taylor, TJ Perenara, Martin Landajo, Beast Mtawarira, Guillermo Roan, Coenie Oosthuizen, Matias Diaz, Keven Mealamu, Bismarck du Plessis, Flip van der Merwe, Dominic Bird, Manuel Carizza, Steven Luatua, Luke Whitelock, Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen.
