BaaBaas call up Ruan, Big Joe

London - Australia rugby league international Willie Mason could make his union debut on Sunday against England after being picked by the Barbarians for the team's two summer matches.

The 31-year-old New Zealand-born forward is in a 24-man squad, which will swell to 26 next week when All Black wing Doug Howlett and Australian flyhalf Brock James join up for the June 4 match against Wales.

Mason scored seven tries in 24 league appearances for Australia in a career marked by disciplinary problems. NRL clubs the Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters both fined him for misdemeanors, with the player involved in several alcohol-related incidents.

South Africans Ruan Pienaar and Joe van Niekerk have also been included, along with SA-born Italian lock Quintin Geldenhuys.

There are 12 countries represented in the squad, with the inclusion of Georgia prop Davit Kubriashvili and Norwegian lock Erik Lund set to take the total of nationalities to represent the Barbarians over 121 years to 31.

Other players picked for the first time by the invitational club side are Italy captain Sergio Parisse, his back-up Leonardo Ghiraldini, and France flyhalf Frederic Michalak.

England have picked an inexperienced squad containing 13 uncapped players with the aim of giving squad members a chance to win a place at this year's Rugby World Cup.

Squads:

Barbarians:

Backs:
Benoit Baby (Clermont Auvergne), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Doug Howlett (Munster), Brock James (Clermont Auvergne), Nicolas Jeanjean (Brive), Willie Mason (Toulon), Frederic Michalak (Toulouse), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster), Seru Rabini (La Rochelle), Paul Sackey (Toulon), Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres), Tim Visser (Edinburgh)

Forwards:
Sebastien Bruno (Toulon), Quintin Geldenhuys (Aironi), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso), Carl Hayman (Toulon), Davit Kubriashvili (Toulon), Erik Lund (Biarritz), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais), Salvatore Perugini (Aironi), George Smith (Toulon), Iosefa Tekori (Castres), Iestyn Thomas (Scarlets), Paul Tito (Cardiff), Joe van Niekerk (Toulon), Martyn Williams (Cardiff)

England:

Backs:
Matt Banahan, Mike Brown, Rory Clegg, Lee Dickson, Paul Hodgson, Charlie Hodgson, Ugo Monye, Stephen Myler, James Simpson-Daniel, Henry Trinder, Jordan Turner-Hall

Forwards:
Dave Attwood, Kieran Brookes, Calum Clark, Paul Doran-Jones, Carl Fearns, James Gaskell, Joe Gray, Tom Johnson, Graham Kitchener, Joe Marler, Matthew Mullan, Luke Narraway, David Paice