Young, the Cardiff Blues' director of coaching, played six times for the Barbarians, including high-profile matches against New Zealand and Australia in Twickenham and Cardiff, captained Wales and was selected for three Lions' tours before taking up a coaching career.

David Young said, "It is a real honour for me to be invited to coach the Barbarians at this stage in my career. In my playing days time spent with the Baa-Baas was always something to relish and from what I heard from Blues' players Martyn Williams and Tom Shanklin when they returned after playing for the Baa-Baas against the Springboks a couple of months ago, nothing much has changed.

"Even against the toughest opposition the Barbarians have the knack of getting the delicate balance right between match preparation, meeting people and turning in winning performances.

"On a personal note, the upcoming tour gives me a unique opportunity to work with top-class players from several different nations and backgrounds and in an international environment and I'm looking forward to it tremendously."

Barbarians' president Micky Steele-Bodger said, "We are delighted that Dai Young has accepted our invitation to take charge of what promises to be another star-studded squad on this year's tour. He is the latest in a long line of top-class coaches such as Bob Dwyer, Pat Howard and Eddie O'Sullivan who have had similar roles with us in recent years.

"We have followed Dai's impressive progress as a coach closely and feel that both he and the Club will benefit from working together on the tour."

He added, "The Barbarians are also grateful for the support we have had from the management at Cardiff Blues and particularly their chief executive, Robert Norster, a distinguished Barbarian himself in his playing days, for being so positive about Dai Young coming to work with us at the end of a busy domestic season."

The 2008 summer tour will include matches against an International Invitation XV in Brussels and England at Twickenham. Final details of the three fixtures will be announced shortly.

The Barbarian Football Club is sponsored by Gartmore, one of the UK's leading investment companies.