Barbarians to provide ‘a massive challenge’

England’s three-Test summer tour of South Africa will include midweek matches in Kimblerley and Potchefstroom against SA Barbarians teams.

Stuart Lancaster’s squad will tackle the Springboks in their first three-Test series in June, with the matches to be played in Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

England will meet an SA Barbarians South team in Kimberley on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 13 and an SA Barbarians North team in Potchefstroom, the following Tuesday evening.

The SA Barbarians teams will be selected from the eight teams in the first division of the Currie Cup, South Africa’s domestic competition.

Lancaster said: “This will be a massive and exciting challenge for us.

“England have never had a three-Test series in South Africa and, with two midweek games against opponents who will be desperate to impress, these five games give us a great opportunity for a wider group of players to put their hat in the ring and gain international experience.

“We were pleased with the progress we made in the Six Nations and this tour is another important step on the journey towards 2015.”