8 Apr 2009

All Blacks to play Barbarians

5:53 am on 8 April 2009

The All Blacks will complete their end-of-year tour of Europe with a match against the Barbarians in London.

The match will be played at Twickenham on Saturday December 5th, the last time the two sides met was in 2004 when the All Blacks won 47-19.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, who played for the Barbarians against the Wallabies in December last year, says it's always a special occasion when the All Blacks line up against them.

The All Blacks have played the UK-based Barbarians on nine occasions. The match in 1973, which the Baabaas won 23-11, featured what many fans consider to be one of the greatest tries ever, when Gareth Edwards opened the scoring with a length of the field team try.

The All Blacks tour includes matches against Iyaly, England, France and now the Barbarians.