Rugby: NZ Provincial Barbarians preparing for game of their lives

New Zealand Provincial Barbarians 1st-five Bryn Gatland during the Captains Run. Photo / Brett Phibbs

When the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians pull on their mainly black jerseys tomorrow night before they take to Whangarei's Toll Stadium pitch for the biggest game of their careers, they could do worse than have the words of the great Bryan Williams ringing in their ears.

Former All Black wing Williams, the patron of New Zealand's Barbarian's club, played against the British and Irish Lions twice in his career in 1971 (famously, a series defeat for the All Blacks), and 1977 (a series win).

He will be expecting the Provincial Barbarians to uphold the club's tradition of playing an expansive running game despite the rain which has fallen here over the last 24 hours and which is set to continue on the day of the game.

But he will be realistic in terms of just about everything else. The Lions have named an extremely strong side for their tour opener and the men from the second tier of the game here who met as a group for the first time over dinner at the Barbarians club last Saturday before their trip north wouldn't be human if they didn't feel nervous.

"Hopefully they don't get too overawed by the occasion," Williams told the Herald after the squad was announced.

"It's going to be perhaps the biggest game they've ever played in their life and there will be so much media attention, the ground will be full and there will be lots of noise and hype. They've just got to get out there and play their game, to enjoy it much as they can.

"They've got an opportunity to really stake a claim. Some careers are born out of these situations. Someone shines and before they know it they're a Super Rugby player and then they're in the All Blacks."

Captain Sam Anderson-Heather, an Otago hooker, seems to get it, and he spoke eloquently on the eve of the game about the opportunity for him and his teammates.

"We come from far and wide and represent a lot of different things as individuals," he said. "As a group we've come together as a team that represents I guess the grass roots of New Zealand rugby.

"[The Lions] is a group that assembles [and tours New Zealand] once every 12 years and it comes with the stigma that is involved with Northern Hemisphere rugby; what an awesome opportunity and what a challenge we have ahead of us."

Anderson-Heather, 29, will be up against Ireland's Rory Best, a man who can hold claim to being one of the best hookers in the world, a man who appears to have a sense of humour, a man, in fact, who would seem to be good to have a beer with after a game.

The match is likely to be over in a flash for the men from Northland to Southland and various points in between, and, should the opportunity arise for a drink afterwards with Best and the likes of Sam Warburton and Ross Moriarty and Iain Henderson, then that would be gratefully accepted.

"Hopefully there will be an opportunity to sit down in the changing shed afterwards and get to know those guys, to share some moments together - it will be something I'll remember for the rest of my life," Anderson-Heather said.

And then there is the potential for a jersey swap; Best's No2 jersey, for instance, would be a prized one.

"That's the million-dollar question," Anderson-Heather said, clearly hopeful. "I don't know, I guess that's on the individual - if they get the opportunity that's a decision they'll have to make."