Preview: England v Barbarians

Nick Easter: Handed captaincy against Baa-baas

England have announced a youthful and fresh team to face the Barbarians in the Twickenham spectacle on Sunday.

The side will be captained by number-eight Nick Easter, who is one of seven Harlequins in the match-day squad, with Luke Narraway and club-mate Will Skinner joining him in the back-row.

The powerful Easter is among nine capped players included in the England side ahead of their two-Test tour of New Zealand.

A sizeable contingent from Leicester and Wasps were not considered due to Saturday's Guinness Premiership final between the clubs, while no Bath players are involved following their European Challenge Cup final victory last week.

Subsequently, England have called upon a new-look front-row with Nick Lloyd and Jason Hobson packing down either side of hooker David Paice.

Elsewhere, current Newcastle centre duo Toby Flood and Mathew Tait are set to link up in midfield outside Sale's half-backs Charlie Hodgson and Richard Wigglesworth.

And with Danny Cipriani and Jonny Wilkinson both recovering from operations, Hodgson could put himself in pole position with a commanding display against the Baa-baas at HQ.

London Irish wing Topsy Ojo is the solitary uncapped player in the back division, but the only senior England internationals up front are Easter, Gloucester's Narraway and Sale lock Chris Jones.

England head to New Zealand next month for Tests against the All Blacks in Auckland and Christchurch, and they will be looking for a solid performance this weekend.

Meanwhile, Jerry Collins will start for the Barbarians, in the week 'the Terminator' walked out of New Zealand rugby.

Collins will line up alongside Springbok Pedrie Wannenburg and either Cardiff Blues' Maama Molitika or Reds' David Croft - depending on a shoulder injury troubling Molitika - in the Baa-baas' back row.

The Barbarians team for the Gartmore Challenge trained at Mill Hill School in north London on Thursday, with Wallaby fly-half Steve Larkham playing an active part despite concerns over a knee strain which sees him bracketed with Saracens' Glen Jackson in Sunday's starting line-up.

Mark Regan, omitted from England's summer tour to New Zealand, will captain the Barbarians with fellow England caps Iain Balshaw and Andy Gomarsall among the backs.

Seilala Mapusua, of London irish, is the only player in the 22 who has not yet featured for the Barbarians.

The teams:

England: 15 Mike Brown (Harlequins), 14 Topsy Ojo (London Irish), 13 Mathew Tait (Newcastle), 12 Toby Flood (Newcastle), 11 David Strettle (Harlequins), 10 Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks), 9 Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), 8 Nick Easter (Harlequins, capt), 7 Will Skinner (Harlequins), 6 Luke Narraway (Gloucester), 5 Nick Kennedy (London Irish), 4 Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), 3 Jason Hobson (Bristol), 2 David Paice (London Irish), 1 Nick Lloyd (Saracens).

Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton), 17 David Wilson (Newcastle), 18 Stuart Hooper (Leeds Carnegie), 19 Tom Guest (Harlequins), 20 Danny Care (Harlequins), 21 Pete Richards (London Irish), 22 Ugo Monye (Harlequins).

Barbarians: 15 Thinus Delport, 14 Gareth Thomas, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Iain Balshaw, 10 Stephen Larkham / Glen Jackson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Maama Molitika / David Croft, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Justin Harrison, 4 Kris Chesney, 3 Cobus Visagie, 2 Mark Regan (capt), 1 Federico Pucciariello.

Replacements: 16 Sebastien Bruno, 17 Patrice Collazo, 18 Santiago Dellape, 19 David Croft / Mitch Chapman, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Glen Jackson / Stephen Larkham, 22 Jaco Pretorius.

Date: Sunday June 1

Kick-off: 15:00 BST (16:00 GMT)

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Touch judges: Alan Lewis. (Ireland), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Television match official: John Burtenshaw (England), Brendan Fitzgerald (England