Wales centre Jamie Roberts is relishing his first taste of action in a Barbarians shirt and is hoping that he and his team-mates can entertain Twickenham when they face the All Blacks on Saturday.

Roberts will cap an excellent year with a start for the Baa Baas, alongside a number of the South African players that he went toe to toe with in the colours of the British & Irish Lions over the summer.

"The Barbarians are steeped in history and tradition and it's a great invitational team. Long may it live," said Roberts. "It's probably getting tougher and tougher each year as the game gets more professional, but it's an absolute honour and privilege to be involved. The crowd are there to be entertained and hopefully we can do that.

"There has been a bit of banter flying around with the South African lads. It's a completely surreal experience to meet these boys, but we're all in it for the same reasons. We're all rugby players and we all want to succeed tomorrow. It's a great environment to be in. I've grown up watching these players wear the shirt. It's unbelievable really. They're nice guys, everyone is getting on really well and it's just an amazing experience."

Roberts won two Lions caps on tour but has struggled since the start of the season and cut a frustrated figure during Wales' disappointing November Tests, which culminated with a 33-12 hammering at the hands of Australia.

"It's been a pretty special year personally," he said. "I was obviously disappointed to end the autumn internationals as we did, but on a personal level this caps it off really well. It's been special and this will motivate me to bigger and better things. I'm going to work harder than ever before. It wasn't easy for Wales in the autumn but we just have to keep going.

"We need to improve some aspects of our game, both individually and collectively. The guys are mad keen to improve in everything we do. Now we will concentrate on looking forward towards the Six Nations."