Piutau & Aki to miss Barbarians clash with England
- 2679
Following fitness tests on Monday, Charles Piutau and Bundee Aki have both been ruled out of the Barbarians' clash against England at Twickenham on Sunday.
New Zealand international Piutau suffered an Achilles tendon strain ahead of Ulster's European Champions Cup play-off victory over the Ospreys two days ago, and Ireland centre Aki is currently nursing an ankle injury.
The Barbarians also announced that Sale Sharks fly-half AJ MacGinty has been withdrawn from the squad by his club.
"It's unfortunate that Charles Piutau strained an Achilles tendon warming up for Ulster on the weekend, Bundee Aki rolled an ankle in training in Galway and AJ MacGinty has been pulled out by his club," confirmed Baa-baas head coach Pat Lam.
"But it's great that we are able to call in some more quality players following the weekend's semi-finals. Finn Russell comes in from Glasgow, Malakai Fekitoa from Toulon and Josh Matavesi from Newcastle, and they will all add to the Barbarians way.
"I've worked with Denis Buckley at Connacht, and he is a powerful scrummager with a high work-rate around the pitch, while Nili Latu has just finished a superb spell at Newcastle and his destructive power and experience across the back-row will be a great asset for us."
The Barbarians starting line-up is due to be announced on Thursday.
