The Barbarians are taking on an All Blacks XV this weekend at Premier League club Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium in London.
Rugby’s financial structure is bizarre at the best of times: on one hand you’ve got teams playing every week struggling to make ends meet, and on the other hand you’ve got the British and Irish Lions touring one country every four years and posting a monumental surplus.
But between the two there’s an ovalball institution that, by all accounts, belongs in the amateur era, yet in 2025 is one of the most recognisable brands in the sport.
For those who are unaware, the Barbarians is an invitational rugby team with an invited coach, where players wear their club socks and superb black and white hooped jerseys, and throw caution to the wind.
They push the rules of the game to the extreme, never kick for points and often look like they’re having the very best time… all of the time (even in a matchweek where players can often be found sinking pints in the local pub).
Barbarians tradition
Former Barbarian, and member of its committee, Scottish international Rory Lawson, tells City AM that, whether it is a try from Sir Gareth Edwards from five decades ago or the more modern players, “the reason it continues to hold a place in the game is because the players want to be part of it. It is players’ second favourite team and fans’ second favourite team”.
“In a time where the game has professionalised,” Lawson adds, “and the sport is in a bit of a state of flux at the moment, the Barbarians has held its position as being a brand that is synonymous with all of the reasons young kids play.”
The team have been training this week in London and, led by Bristol Bears head coach Pat Lam, will take on an All Blacks XV ahead of this autumn’s internationals season.
Having usually held a traditional match against an England XV at Allianz Stadium, this weekend’s clash will take place at Premier League club Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium, former home of Prem Rugby club London Irish.
And it comes on a huge day for rugby in the capital with England taking on Australia in Twickenham and South Africa hosting Japan at Wembley Stadium.
Opportunity
“It still provides an opportunity to get out of the high pressure environment that club and international rugby carries,” former Edinburgh, Gloucester and Newcastle scrum-half Lawson says.
“It’s going to be a very different dynamic to the other two [matches] with the on-field expression and the opportunity to go out and play.
“I can almost guarantee it will be higher risk, higher value, greater entertainment than you see anywhere else on that day. The stakes may not be as high, but you’re going to have a Barbarians squad who see it as a huge opportunity to represent a famous club.
“The players there will be encouraged by Pat Lam and the club as a whole to go out and express themselves and compete in a manner that brings them joy.
“The All Blacks team will be a bunch of hungry, ambitious players who want to be filling the New Zealand jersey imminently.”
The stage is set for an intriguing battle in Brentford this weekend. But whatever the result, the survival of the Barbarians in an ever-more commercialised sporting landscape speaks volumes to the team’s attraction to the masses.
Tickets remain available and start at £20 for children.