{"id":385496,"date":"2011-04-21T14:41:56","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T14:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/"},"modified":"2011-04-21T14:41:56","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T14:41:56","slug":"baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/","title":{"rendered":"Baa-Baa Williams to take on Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Martyn Flanker Williams has made five Barbarians appearances<\/span> <\/p>\n

Veteran flanker Martyn Williams will face Wales for the Barbarians in June, in all likelihood pitting him against his Test successor Sam Warburton.<\/p>\n

Wales coach Warren Gatland overlooked 35-year-old Williams in Warburton’s favour for the Six Nations.<\/p>\n

But Gatland has stated Williams’ Barbarians involvement does not rule the player out of World Cup contention.<\/p>\n

It’s something special to be playing for them Barbarians against your home country,” said Williams.<\/p>\n

Barbarians coach Dai Young – Williams’ Cardiff Blues boss – will also have also have Italy’s star number eight Sergio Parisse and Australian back-row legend George Smith in the squad to face Gatland’s side on a day when Wales’ players will be awarded caps.<\/p>\n

Gatland said: “Playing for the Barbarians does not exclude Martyn from the opportunity of still being selected for our World Cup squad.<\/p>\n

“With Martyn in the opposition line-up, it’s a great chance for us to see how our young back row will cope in an international match against such an experienced and world class player.”<\/p>\n

Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n
\n

The one place we Wales have a lot of strength in depth is in the back row<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Martyn Williams<\/span><\/div>\n

Williams, who has won 98 Wales caps, said: “Hopefully, if I can put in a good performance, I can get back into Warren’s plans for the World Cup.<\/p>\n

“Having spoken to Warren, I know it’s a case of the more Welsh players on the field the better.<\/p>\n

“The coaches know what I can and can’t do, but it will be a fantastic occasion and I can’t wait to run out at the Millennium Stadium against boys I’ve played with there so many times.<\/p>\n

“I would love to go New Zealand, the Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle of anyone’s international career, along with the British and Irish Lions.<\/p>\n

“If I was asked to go, I would grab the opportunity with both hands but there is a lot of rugby to be played before then with the end of the Magners League and the summer internationals.<\/p>\n

“And the one place we Wales have a lot of strength in depth is in the back row.<\/p>\n

\"Francois Francois Steyn and Ruan Pienaar helped South Africa win the 2007 World Cup<\/span><\/p>\n

“I will just keep going for the Blues and see what happens.”<\/p>\n

Williams admits it will be “strange” to face Wales but is looking forward to returning to the Millennium Stadium, where he last played in their 37-25 defeat by New Zealand in November 2010.<\/p>\n

Williams could line up alongside three World Cup winners.<\/p>\n

South Africans Francois Steyn and Ruan Pienaar joined England’s Iain Balshaw as Baa-Baas coach Dai Young named the first six players in his squad.<\/p>\n

Wallaby Smith and Ireland prop John Hayes have each won more than 100 caps.<\/p>\n

Wales’ veteran fly-half Stephen Jones expected to join the nation’s cap record-holder Gareth Thomas on 100 caps during the game.<\/p>\n

The fixture is being staged to help the Welsh Rugby Union celebrate its 130th anniversary and marks the beginning of Wales’ 2011 World Cup preparations.<\/p>\n

Warren Gatland’s side will go on to play three Tests in August – two against England and one against Argentina – before heading to New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Steyn and Pienaar helped the Springboks win the World Cup in 2007 in France, while Balshaw won a winners’ medal in England’s 2003 triumph in Australia.<\/p>\n

The South African duo could also be part of their 2011 campaign to retain the crown – and they face Wales in the pool stages in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Their pool also includes Samoa, Fiji and Namibia.<\/p>\n

Barbarians squad (to be finalised):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Francois Steyn (Racing Metro, Paris\/South Africa), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster\/South Africa), Iain Balshaw (Biarritz\/England), George Smith (Toulon\/Australia), John Hayes (Munster\/Ireland), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais\/Italy), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues\/Wales).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

More:
\nBaa-Baa Williams to take on Wales<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flanker Williams has made five Barbarians appearances Veteran flanker Martyn Williams will face Wales for the Barbarians in June, in all likelihood pitting him against his Test successor Sam Warburton. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nBaa-Baa Williams to take on Wales - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Baa-Baa Williams to take on Wales - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Flanker Williams has made five Barbarians appearances Veteran flanker Martyn Williams will face Wales for the Barbarians in June, in all likelihood pitting him against his Test successor Sam Warburton.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/a2b152291923_martyn_williams_0510_get226.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Baa-Baa Williams to take on Wales\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-21T14:41:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/\"},\"wordCount\":658,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/a2b152291923_martyn_williams_0510_get226.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/baa-baa-williams-to-take-on-wales\/\",\"name\":\"Baa-Baa Williams to take on Wales - 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