Corinthians’ and Connacht’s Cathal Forde has been named in the Barbarians Squad for their games next week against Bath and Leicester.
Cathal has played for Ireland at underage level and most recently was part of the Emerging Ireland side that toured South Africa.
Cathal is the first Connacht player since Finlay Bealham, Dave Heffernan and Niyi Adeolokun were selected for the Quilter Cup game against England at Twickenham in 2019 and the first senior uncapped Connacht player since Denis Buckley in 2018.
BARBARIANS SQUAD FOR BATH RUGBY FIXTURE
Abraham Papali'i
A talented New Zealander who switched codes from League to Union in 2020, Papali'i currently plays his rugby with Brive.
AJ Lam
Nephew of Bristol Bears’ Pat Lam, this Lam is a 6ft 2 wing who has starred in Super Rugby for the Blues. He has an All Blacks XV cap to his name.
Cathal Forde
Fly-half Forde is an exciting prospect. An Ireland Under-20 international, he is just starting out what should be an exciting career.
Damian McKenzie
An All Black with 40 caps and Chiefs’ all-time leading points scorer. McKenzie is a world class operator at either 10 or 15.
Elliott Stooke
Lock Stooke was a fan favourite during his time at The Rec, making 125 appearances for the club.
Francois Hougaard
Scrum-half Hougaard, he has played wing too, won the 2014 IRB Try of the Year for a finish against New Zealand for South Africa. He had 49 Springbok caps.
Gabriel Oghre
Hooker Oghre came through the Bath Academy but made his name at Wasps where he made over 50 Premiership appearances.
Gareth Simpson
Scrum-half Simpson has spent time in South Africa but more recently with Worcester Warriors and a brief stint at Saracens.
Graham Kitchener
An experienced professional with plenty of rugby to his name, Kitchener’s eight years at Leicester Tigers was sandwiched by spells at Worcester Warriors.
Hayden Thompson-Stringer
A product of the Saracens Academy, Prop Thompson-Stringer moved to Brive in 2019. He was part of the England U20 squad that won the 2014 Junior World Championship.
Iacopo Bianchi
A flanker who has Italy Under-20 and A honours, Bianchi plays for Zebre.
Jacob Umaga
Son of Mike who played for Samoa and nephew of Tana who captained the All Blacks, Umaga has made a strong name for himself in the early stages of his career at Wasps and was capped by England in 2021.
Jacopo Trulla
Another from Zebre, wing Trulla has eight Italy caps having debuted against Scotland in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup.
John Ryan
A 24-cap Ireland international, Ryan will be known well by Johann van Graan for his near 11 years at Munster.
Kieran Brookes
Now at Toulon, prop Brookes won 16 caps for England during his time in the Premiership.
Kiran McDonald
Scotland-born lock McDonald is now with Munster having had his time at Wasps cut short. He was a strong competitor for Glasgow Warriors previously.
Levi Aumua
An exciting back, Aumua has Super Rugby experience and currently plays for Moana Pasifika. He is in the All Blacks XV side to play the Barbarians.
Luther Burrell
A 15-time capped England international, Burrell spent a large chunk of his Union time with Northampton Saints but has also got a lot of League experience.
Marland Yarde
An England international most recently with Sale Sharks.
Matt Banahan
What is there to say about Mr Banahan? A Bath legend. One hundred tries in over 250 appearances for the club.
Mike Brown
Full-back Brown played over 350 games for Harlequins and earned 72 England caps.
Murray McCallum
Scotland prop McCallum moved to England with Worcester Warriors but previously spent time at Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.
Olly Robinson
Son of Bath legend Andy, Robinson will join his father in representing the Barbarians. After a successful period at Bristol, the back row is now enjoying himself at Cardiff Rugby.
Tim Cardall
Lock Cardall came through the Wasps Academy and has England Students honours.
Tom Cruse
An experienced hooker, Cruse has bolstered Wasps front row for the past six years.
