Woodward relies on Gloucester's finest

Gloucester were understandably relieved when Wasps sneaked the Heineken Cup from under the noses of Toulouse on Sunday, for the result guaranteed the West Countrymen a place in the élite European competition next season. Clive Woodward, the national coach, felt precisely the same way. The dramatic outcome at Twickenham freed up a small army of Kingsholmites for duty against the Barbarians this weekend, and Woodward promptly called up seven of them - Chris Fortey, Alex Brown, Mark Cornwell, Peter Buxton and Andy Hazell from the pack; Marcel Garvey and Jon Goodridge from the Fancy-Dan brigade.

The Baa-Baas fixture - or rather, the timing of it - is a headache Woodward could well do without, scheduled as it is less than 24 hours after the Zurich Premiership and Wildcard finals, and three days before England's front-line players leave for the start of a demanding summer trek to New Zealand and Australia. The coach had no intention of risking any of his tourists in an invitation match - not even Matt Dawson, the Northampton scrum-half, who has not played a full game of rugby since Noah checked the weather forecast - and as he was denied the services of Bath, Wasps and Leicester players, the selection problems were acute.

If Gloucester had also been active this weekend - a defeat for Wasps on Sunday would have committed them to a Wildcard final against Leicester - Woodward would have been forced to field a seriously understrength team. His options are not exactly limitless even now, but the presence of Brown and Hazell in particular will at least underpin the England XV's forward effort.

Woodward said a week ago that he was considering playing Dawson, a World Cup-winner fallen on frustrating times because of injury, in this fixture as a means of confirming his fitness for the forthcoming matches against the All Blacks in Dunedin and Auckland. By resisting the temptation, he is gambling on his senior scrum-half's readiness for what remains the most extreme challenge in international rugby. Should Dawson break down, the No 9 shirt will be contested by Gloucester's Andy Gomarsall, resourceful but out of form, and Leicester's Harry Ellis, bold and ambitious but uncapped.

New Zealand will have a new captain, in the striking shape of the dreadlocked Wellington centre Tana Umaga. Thirty-one this week and the holder of 53 caps, Umaga replaces the much-criticised Canterbury flanker Reuben Thorne, who led the All Blacks to a semi-final exit in last year's World Cup. Graham Henry, the former Wales and Lions coach currently preparing for a first Test in charge of his countrymen, said Thorne had reacted to news of his demotion "graciously and professionally".

Umaga will captain the "probables" team in next week's All Black trial. The brilliant Andrew Mehrtens, out of international rugby for 18 months following a spate of personal problems, is back in the mix as back-up outside-half, but a number of World Cup first-choicers - Aaron Mauger, Keven Mealamu and Ali Williams included - are down among the "possibles".

ENGLAND SQUAD

Non-cap international v Barbarians, Twickenham, Sunday

Backs: M Horak (London Irish), D Scarbrough (Leeds), J Goodridge (Gloucester), P Sackey (London Irish), M Garvey (Gloucester), M Stephenson (Newcastle), K Sorrell (Saracens), T May (Newcastle), J Noon (Newcastle), D Walder (Newcastle), C Stuart-Smith (Leeds), N Walshe (Sale).

Forwards: M Worsley (Harlequins), N Lloyd (Saracens), R Morris (Northampton), J Dawson (Harlequins), M Regan (Leeds), D Richmond (Northampton), C Fortey (Gloucester), A Brown (Gloucester), M Cornwell (Gloucester), A Hazell (Gloucester), D Hyde (Leeds), P Buxton (Gloucester), H Vyvyan (Newcastle).