Australian Schools Barbarians coach Carl Marshall believes physicality will be the key for his side when they face Tongan Schools in Sydney tomorrow in a one off Test match.

Tonga recorded two strong victories over NSWCCC and NSWCHS in their opening two matches and Marshall said his side was preparing for a tight, physical contest.

“I’ve had a look at the tapes from their earlier games but with a one game preparation, our focus is on what we’re doing,” Marshall told Rugby News,

“They’ve got some big guys in their team that will be quite physical but I think if we can be physical and match them, then our skill level will shine through and we should go well.”

The Barbarians have spent just three days in camp ahead of tomorrow’s match but Marshall said he was happy with how the squad has come together. With 15 of the 23 players from NSW, he said a number of the combinations had been established earlier this year.

“We want to provide a bit of structure, but we want to allow them to express themselves and play the way they play and in line with the philosophies of Barbarians rugby which is obviously attacking rugby,” the Brisbane Grammar coach said.

“We want to attack, but you can’t just throw it wide, you need to be direct early and that allows you to be able to throw the footy, so the intention is to move the footy around as best we can, but that is also in reference to the oppositions defensive line.”

While Marshall was reluctant to single out individuals, he admitted he expected big games from a few of his players.

“Most of the boys have been really good. In terms of skill level, our fullback Mackenzie (Hansen) has stood out and Luke Rixon has plenty of pace as well,” he said.

“In the forwards, we’ve got quite a bit of skill. Dylan Valeni has been really good, his passing is outstanding but obviously the most important part is contact and we haven’t spent a lot of time on that yet.”

Australian Schools sides have won all nine Test matches played against Tongan Schools but Marshall said the Barbarians aren’t getting ahead of themselves and will need to be at the best against a team looking to close out an unbeaten tour of Australia.

“It doesn’t matter what level of footy you play, you do have to be aggressive and win that tackle contest and you can do that in a variety of different ways, you don’t have to be the biggest team, you can be smart in those tight channels and move into space with strong carries and as a result you can get quick ball so we’ll be looking to do that,” he said,

“There is lots of pace out wide and some nice passing skills in the midfield so provided we win that tackle and get clean ball, I think we’ve got plenty of points in us.”

The two sides meet at Newington College in Sydney at 1pm on Saturday.

Australian Schools Barbarians team to play Tongan Schools (1-15):

Bo Abra (Stannies, NSW), Matthew Faessler (Toowoomba Grammar, QLD), Dan Matthew (Kariong Mountains HS, NSW), Lachlan Osborne (Canberra Grammar, ACT), Nick Brown (Kings, NSW) Henry Sharp (Churchie, QLD), Dylan Pietsch (Kings, NSW), Tom Serhon (Newington, NSW), Tyzac Jordan (Waverley, NSW), Bayley Kuenzle (Newington, NSW), Jordan Petaia (Brisbane State HS, QLD), Matthew Orpen (Kings, NSW), Tristan Stanghon (Churchie, QLD), Luke Rixon (Shore, NSW), Mackenzie Hansen (Daramalan, ACT).

Reserves (16-23):

Callum Kent (Camberwell HS, VIC), Tom Osborne (Riverview, NSW), Dylan Vanleni (Westfields Sports HS, NSW), Liam Rasch (Trinity, NSW), Charles Rorke (Riverview, NSW), Tate McDermott (Sunshine Coast Grammar, QLD), William Harrison (Marcellin, NSW), Tyrone Taukamo (Newington, NSW).