England scupper Barbarians’ bid for fourth ‘Test’ against All Blacks
● RFU refuses request to release players for Twickenham match as talks with the home unions hit immediate problems
England have ruled out the possibility of releasing players for the Barbarians’ fixture against New Zealand on 4 November.
It had been mooted that the match at Twickenham could be elevated to the status of an unofficial fourth Test to the British and Irish Lions tour, which concluded on Saturday with the series against the All Blacks drawn 1-1.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland was cautiously positive about the suggestion when it was raised in the aftermath of the 15-15 stalemate in Auckland, and the Barbarians had also confirmed their interest. But England’s desire to concentrate on their threetestautumnscheduleappears to have scuppered the proposal as players from all four home unions would have to be available for the game to have any credibility as an unofficial decider.
Scotland had no players involved in the recent Lions Test series, but it is understood that none of the national autumn Test squad would be released to the Barbarians
0 Gatland: Welcomed idea. squad if any were requested. Full focus will be on Gregor Townsend’s first home match in charge against Samoa the following weekend before Scotland’s own crack at the All Blacks on 18 November and another clash with Australia to finish.
An English RFU spokesman said: “England players will be focusing on preparing for our matches ahead of the Old Mutual Wealth Series and will not be released for the Barbarians fixture.”
Earlier yesterday, the Barbarians revealed they would be looking to open discussions with the home unions in the hope of securing release for their Lions.
“We are going to assemble an extremely strong team for this historic game at Twickenham,” a Barbarians spokesman said.
“We hope it will include players involved in the exceptional Lions series with the All Blacks. The players will get the chance to face New Zealand for a fourth time this year.
“We have reached an agreement with Premiership Rugby, who have been very supportive about player release. We will talk with the home unions about access to players.”
As England stars will already have reported for international duty that weekend under the terms of the agreement between clubs and country, Premiership Rugby’s consent was not needed for their involvement in the match.
There is precedent for such a game after the Barbarians’ clash with New Zealand in 1973 was given a similar billing due to the number of players involved from the Lions’ triumphant tour two years earlier. The All Blacks lost that series 2-1 with the fourth Test also ending in deadlock.
England had wanted to stage their own fixture at Twickenham against the All Blacks on 4 November, only for negotiations to break down. They are due to meet for the first time in four years in November 2018. Last year’s finalists – Newtonmore and Oban Camanachd – were kept apart in the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup semi-final draw.
Oban Camanachd were first out of the hat and will face the 2015 winners, Lovat, at An Aird, Fort William on Saturday, 12 August.
Skye Camanachd, who last reached the semi-final stage in 2014 when they lost to Glenurquhart, have the most difficult tie, facing holders Newtonmore at Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 26 August.
Reflecting on his side’s tie with Lovat, Oban Camanachd manager Iain Hay said: “This is one of those games that both ourselves and Lovat are capable of winning. It’s all about what happens on the day.”
Skye Camanachd manager Willie Cowie was in no doubt of the size of the task facing his side. “We are the only team from outwith the top league in the draw, so we were probably the ones everyone wanted to play,” he said. “We lost 3-1 to Newtonmore in the Macaulay Cup earlier in the season, but we’ve earned the right to be in the semi-finals and we’re determined to give a good account of ourselves.”
Both semi-finals will be broadcast live on BBC Alba.
The 2017 final will be played at Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 30 September 2017.