Dai Young will coach the Barbarians next summer © Getty Images

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Wasps coach Dai Young will coach the Barbarians when they come up against the British & Irish Lions in Hong Kong next summer.

Young will also take the reins for the rest of their summer tour which starts against England at Twickenham on May 26. He will be assisted by manager Derek Quinnell and between them they have been on six Lions tours and also played for the Barbarians against international opposition.

Young coached the Baa-Baas back in 2011 to victories over England at Twickenham and then Wales in the Millennium Stadium and he is relishing the chance to preside over the famous side once again.

"I have been privileged to coach the Barbarians on three previous summer tours in recent years but never mind how many times I am invited it is always an honour and one that I cherish," Young said. "It is also a big responsibility to uphold the traditions of the Barbarians and to get the best out of the fantastic group of players they invariably assemble for these matches.

"This will be even more so next summer. The annual game against England is a big enough occasion it itself but to play the Lions on the first match of their own major tour is really a case of the icing on the cake. It promises to be a tremendous tour and all those of us involved will be committed to making it a big success."

And Quinnell is adamant that Young is the right man to lead the team. "I have worked with him before - though it seems a long time ago that I was in the Wales' coaching set-up with Tony Gray and we sent for Dai to join our squad for the quarter-final of the first Rugby World Cup in 1987," Quinnell said. "He was a young 19-year-old prop at the time but was equal to the task and two years later he was back in Australia with the Lions and an automatic choice for the test team that won the series.

"The other great thing about Dai is that as a player and now an experienced and successful coach he understands what makes the Barbarians tick and fully respects and furthers the traditions of our club."