IRELAND rugby player Bundee Aki will captain the Barbarians team when they face England in Twickenham at the end of the month.
The Connaught player will lead the Barbarians against England as one of three front-line home unions internationals included in the squad.
The Barbarians are an invitational rugby union team which has been a major part of New Zealand rugby since the team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush, and Hubert McLean who captained their first game (against Auckland) in 1938.
The team faces off against a northern hemisphere international side every year or so, and can comprise of a variety of players from several nationalities.
New Zealand born Aki, a Grand Slam winner who has won on all seven of his starts for Joe Schmidt's men, is joined by Wales openside Justin Tipuric and Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw among the 17 players confirmed so far for the May 27 fixture.
Also included are Ireland-capped lock Ultan Dillane and scrum-half Rhodri Williams, who has represented Wales.
"The big thing about Bundee is that he's an unbelievable competitor," said Barbarians and Bristol head coach Pat Lam.
"A lot of the Pacific Island boys have that X-factor but he loves putting his head in the dark places and thriving in turnover and contact work.
"England is a game we're going to have to work hard in and he epitomises what we need to do. We need the courage to play and move the ball and also to know when we have to tighten things up, and he'll be at the centre of that."
The Barbarians will be looking to secure their first win against England since their 39-29 victory in 2014.
Here is the squad in full:
Backs: N Adeolokun (Connacht and Ireland), B Aki (Connacht and Ireland), G Laidlaw (Clermont and Scotland), L McAlister (Toulon and New Zealand), AJ McGinty (Sale Sharks and USA), C Piutau (Ulster and New Zealand), R Williams (Dragons and Wales)
Forwards: J Afoa (Gloucester and New Zealand), U Dillane (Connacht and Ireland), R Herrera (Stade Francais and Argentina), B Kayser (Clermont and France), T Polota-Nau (Leicester and Australia), S Timani (Clermont and Australia), J Tipuric (Ospreys and Wales), L Uhila (Clermont), F van der Merwe (Clermont and South Africa), V Vito (La Rochelle and New Zealand)
