Sonny Bill Williams returning to Australia as a Barbarian

Sonny Bill Williams will return to Australia to play for the Barbarians against the Qantas Wallabies at Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday, 6 June.

The former New Zealand rugby league international, who switched codes in a blaze of publicity to join the Toulon club in France last year, is the first Barbarians invitee announced for the historic showdown.

The match will be the first for the world-famous Barbarians Club on Australian soil, with a show-stopping line-up assured for a game that will also double as the 2009 season-opener for the Qantas Wallabies and the Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series.

An announcement on a number of other squad members is expected over the next two weeks with the entire Barbarians contingent to be confirmed in May.

The Barbarians party will fly in to Sydney on June 1 following a match against England at Twickenham on May 30.

“I’m looking forward to playing for the Barbarians in Sydney and being on the field with some of the best Rugby players in the world,” Williams said.

According to Australian Rugby Union Managing Director and CEO John O’Neill, the invitation to Williams will create added interest in the Barbarians match.

“He was a rugby league player of rare talent who is now midway through his first season of Rugby in France,” said O’Neill.

“At Toulon he is playing alongside a former long-serving All Black in Jerry Collins and against some of the finest players in the game on a week to week basis.

“I’m sure many people will look forward to seeing how his career in Rugby has developed when he arrives with a Barbarians team that will be world-class and ready to take on our own Qantas Wallabies.

“Bringing the Barbarians to Australia for the first time is an exciting initiative.

“Theirs is a club of magnificent history and tradition and one that remains both relevant and important within the modern game.”

Barbarians president Micky Steele-Bodger said: “The forthcoming visit by our club to Sydney to play the Wallabies is a ground-breaking venture on our part.

“We have had a long-standing friendship with Australian Rugby, especially since that other pioneering match, the game between the Barbarians and the Wallabies at Cardiff Arms Park in 1948, and, of course, more recently, another historic event, the game between our two sides at the new Wembley Stadium last December.

“In keeping with our traditions, we will be bringing with us a team that reflects the cosmopolitan nature of our club.

“There will be top-class players from several countries including, I'm pleased to confirm, Sonny Bill Williams, who will be making his debut for us.”

The match will signify the Wallabies’ return to Sydney Football Stadium for the first time since 2001 when they played a non-Test against New Zealand Maori.

Tickets for the game against the Barbarians will go on sale on May 12.

WALLABIES v BARBARIANS NOTES

• Australia and the Barbarians have played on 10 occasions since the foundation game in 1948 at Cardiff Arms Park. The Barbarians won the inaugural match 9-6.
• Australia has won its last six matches against the Barbarians, and has won seven of the 10 games played.
• The most recent match was last December at Wembley with the Qantas Wallabies winning 18-11.The game was supported by the British Olympic Association and commemorated the first Wallabies winning the gold medal for Rugby at the 1908 Games in London.
• The Barbarians most recent match prior to the Wembley defeat was a win over the then newly-crowned World Cup champions South Africa at Twickenham in December 2007.

PLEASE NOTE: A Media Alert advising of a doorstop opportunity with ARU Managing Director and CEO John O’Neill will also follow this release. Mr O’Neill will be available at 11.30am at ARU Headquarters.