Italy captain Sergio Parisse will lead the Barbarians against the British & Irish Lions in Hong Kong in the curtain-raiser to the 2013 tour of Australia.
No.8 Parisse, who has won 95 caps for Italy and who featured in four of Italy’s five RBS 6 Nations matches this year including the victories over France and Ireland, is joined in the starting line-up by fellow Azzurri stalwart Martin Castrogiovanni while Leonardo Ghiraldini and Andrea Lo Cicero are on the bench
The Baa-Baas will field a much-changed side from that which lost to England at Twickenham on Sunday with only four players – Elliot Daly, wing Takudzwa Ngwenya, centre Casey Laulala and lock Marco Wentzel remaining.
And coach Dai Young is hoping that having the leadership of Parisse can inspire his side to a better performance in Hong Kong.
“We are not going to shy away from the fact that we all felt let down afterwards,” he said. “We didn’t play anything like we expected and we know we are going to have to be a lot better.
“The players realised themselves that they have to step things up this week, and preparation and training has been spot on.
“We have been concentrating on getting the basics right and earning the right to play rather than just going out there to chuck the ball around.”
