The 19-year-old will be joined in the Baa-Baas 23-strong squad by her Dragons RFC Women’s Pathway manager Cerys Hale, who is set to bring down the curtain on her international career after winning 49 caps for Wales.
Meyrick has bounced back from injury and played for Wales U20 in both this year’s Six Nations and Quad Series campaigns. She scored a try in the Wales U18 win over Ireland in 2023.
Hale, who helped Gloucester-Hartpury win back-to-back Premiership Women’s Rugby titles, has been a fixture in the Wales squad for than a decade. She was first called up into the Wales squad for the 2014 Six Nations and went onto play in three Rugby World Cups.
She was also part of the Wales squad that played in the historic WXV1 tournament in New Zealand in 2023. Her rugby journey began a Pontyclun RFC before going on to join the Dragons.
The game in Cape Town will be the seventh fixture played by the Barbarian women’s side. Their first fixture was against Munster in 2017 and their last match was a 60-5 win over South African in 2021.
Only eight Welsh players have previously donned the world famous black and white hooped jersey – Alisha Butchers, Katrin Edwards, Ellen Evans, Kat Evans, Jasmine Joyce, Sian Moore, Elinor Snowsill and Rachel Taylor.
There are seven players in the squad who will be playing on the internationals stage for the last time before retirement. As well as Hale, there are three from England and one each from the USA, Ireland and New Zealand.
The most-capped Black Fern of all time, Kendra Cocksedge, will be flying the flag for the current World Champions after announcing her retirement following their victory over England in 2022. Over the course of her 15-year career, Cocksedge earned 68 Test caps, scored 382 points, and won three Rugby World Cup titles.
A decade after winning the 2014 Rugby World Cup with England, Rachael Burford will bid farewell to international rugby playing alongside World Cup-winning teammates Laura Keates, Rochelle Clark, and Lydia Thompson.
Burford earned 84 caps for England and was involved in four World Cups and two Six Nations Grand Slams. Thompson won 47 England caps and was a bronze medal winner with England sevens at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Emily Scott, who represented England in addition to playing for Team GB and England Sevens at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games respectively, will also mark her final international involvement after announcing her retirement earlier in the year.
Former Ireland captain Claire Molloy retired from international rugby in 2021 after representing the XVs side at three Rugby World Cups. She also captained Ireland sevens at the World Cup in 2013, the same year that she was involved in Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam and led the XVs side at their home World Cup in 2017.
She announced she was stepping away from rugby in July, calling time on her career after playing for Bristol Bears for two seasons. The USA’s Alycia Washington will also play her last international match following the announcement of her retirement last Friday.
Washington made her debut for the USA Eagles in 2015 against the Red Roses, and was involved in their best-ever finish at a Rugby World Cup since 1991 when they finished fourth in 2017. The second row won 26 international caps and co-founded the XV Foundation in 2020.
The match against the Springbok Women, who are currently preparing for WXV2, will kick off prior to the men’s Rugby Championship fixture between the Springboks and All Blacks. Wales will be playing in the same WXV2 tournament in South Africa later in the year.
BARBARIAN WOMEN SQUAD TO FACE SOUTH AFRICA
Forwards: Kathryn Buggy (Ireland), Rochelle Clarke (England), Ciara Cooney (Ireland), Cerys Hale (Wales), Laura Keates (England), Joanna Kitlinski (USA), Rownita Marston-Mulhearn (England), Charmaine McMenamin (New Zealand), Abi Meyrick (Wales), Claire Molloy (Ireland), Sera Naiqama (Australia), Alycia Washington (USA)
Backs: Rachael Burford (England), Kendra Cocksedge (New Zealand), Kathryn Dane (Ireland), Cheta Emba (USA), Carla Hohepa (New Zealand), Sarah Law (Scotland), Rachel Lund (England), Celia Quansah (England), Amber Reed (England), Emily Scott (England), Lydia Thompson (England)
Coaching staff: Head Coach: Linda Itunu (New Zealand), Assistant Coach: Patricia Garcia Rodriguez (Spain), Barbarian Women Director: Fiona Stockley (England), Team Manager: Anita Velinova (Finland)
