England Saxons Run Riot at Edgeley Park
By Kath 31/1/09
January 31 2009
ENGLAND Saxons ran in an impressive 10 tries to complete a convincing 66-0 victory over Portugal at Edgeley Park last night.
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England Saxons run riot over Portugal |
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ENGLAND Saxons ran in an impressive 10 tries to complete a convincing 66-0 victory over Portugal at Edgeley Park last night. There were two tries apiece for Leicester Tigers pair Harry Ellis and Tom Varndell and Saracens centre Adam Powell, with Noah Cato (also Saracens), Dom Waldouck (London Wasps) and Matt Smith and Jordan Crane (both Tigers) also finding the line. Head Coach Stuart Lancaster praised the Saxons after the game saying, "We played some really good rugby and I'm delighted for the boys. "Portugal put a lot of pressure on us in the opening stages and we struggled to get our composure and tempo but when we adjusted and got some depth, things started to come and we scored some great individual tries." Although he didn't get on the scoresheet, Lancaster singled out Bath Rugby full back Nick Abendanon for his clinical all round performance that earned him Sky's man of the match award. "Nick was fantastic, he looked extremely sharp and was a constant threat with ball in hand." After almost opening the scoring from the kick off, the Saxons struggled to break through the determined Portuguese defence, despite dominating the opening exchanges. But their break came at the end of the first quarter. Shortly after the visitors lost their influential No 8, Vasco Uva, who captained the team during the 2007 World Cup, England fly half Harry Ellis opened the scoring, scooting over from the base of a driven scrum. Bristol Rugby fly half Ed Barnes celebrated his Saxons debut with the first of four conversions to take the score to 7-0. Minutes later, Powell added his first and, having set the score up with a neat grubber kick, Barnes added the extras. On the half hour, England extended their lead thanks to Abendanon's perfect cross field open play kick and a kind bounce that allowed Varndell to touch down in the left corner. With Portugal captain Joao Correia in the sin bin, Ellis added a second in similar fashion to his first, before Cato finished off the finest try of the evening, an excellent effort involving some great interlinking between forwards and backs. Barnes' conversions took England's half time lead to 33-0. But after the break, Phil Dowson's men went off the boil slightly and it was another 15 minutes before the scoring continued. With one Wasps hooker replacing another and Saracens young playmaker Alex Goode taking over from Barnes, England finally took their opportunity, this time through Dom Waldouck, with Goode adding the extras. Having secured a 40-point cushion, a flurry of substitutions followed and it was Waldouck's replacement, Tiger Matt Smith who was next to touch down, finding the try line with his first touch of the ball. As the game neared its conclusion there were further tries for Varndell and his Leicester team mate Jordan Crane, playing at second row for the first time since representing England under 18s, before Goode's conversion of Powell's second try - England's 10th - took the final score to 66-0.
England Saxons will now face Ireland A at Donnybrook in a week's time and the squad to face Ireland A will be named on Monday.
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The match was just too one sided to make any real decision about how well these young lads will play in a real test, though.
Well done to the Portuguese lads though, heads went down a bit towards the end but they tried and tried.
The Irish game should put a lot more pressure on the team.
If one had to pick out one player, for me it would be Cato.
Apart from one almost comic lapse in concentration he had a very solid game. He has a lot of power and strength as well as pace.
"There was a load of solid work done by the tight five. It got a bit scrappy, we were making some big breaks down the middle but just tried to do a bit too much too soon on occasions. Overall, it was a good performance, we looked pretty solid and they never really troubled us. Considering we've had less than four days to get to know each other and put a game plan together, that was not a bad effort.
"I thought Jordan (Crane, playing at second row rather than his usual No 8) put his head down a put in a lot of graft. He certainly showed that he can cut it a second row as well as No 8."
STUART LANCASTER (Head Coach)
"For some of the guys, particularly the younger ones, that was a big experience. You learn more about players by spending time with them over a long period, you find out what their strengths and weaknesses are.
"I'll have a catch up with Johno (Martin Johnson) and the senior coaches and have a chat with them about the Ireland A game next week and we'll go from there. A number of the guys will be involved in that game, but you've also got to throw into the mix the likes of Jordan Turner-Hall and the 'Quins back row boys - Chris Robshaw, Tom Guest and Will Skinner, who are all now available for selection.
"I thought we scored some great individual tries out there and I'm delighted for the players in that respect. But against Ireland we'll have to create tries through teamwork and not just rely on a number of great individual performances."
DOMINIC WALDOUCK (London Wasps)
"They were a tough opposition, they came at us hard and fast for the first 10 minutes. We had to establish a platform before we could start playing. I was disappointed with our accuracy at times. It was good to see our shape get us in their 22, but for our accuracy we could have scored a few more tries.
"A large group of the England U20 boys from last year came through, they were balanced by the likes of Harry Ellis so we had a good balance. We're all here to try and impress Johno (Martin Johnson, England Team Manager). We've got a big test against Ireland A next week but it's another chance to try and show what we can do."
ROB WEBBER (London Wasps)
"It was really good to get my debut and finally get on the pitch (Rob toured North America with England Saxons last summer) and to get a good convincing win, I really enjoyed it
"They played a really tough game and never gave up, which we expected, but once we got on top of them we ran in a few good tries and it was a good performance.
"We tried to play a simple game plan, make sure we dominated set piece and try to get into the game early. They made that tough but we managed to wear them down and eventually the flood gates opened. It was good for Joe Ward (London Wasps' New Zealand-born hooker) to make his English debut."
JORDAN CRANE (Leicester Tigers)
"It was interesting playing at second row, I managed to get a few carries in. I wouldn't way I preferred it but if that's where they want me to play I'll certainly give it a crack and see how it goes.
"I thought it was a good performance from the tight five but we'll be tested a lot more next week against an Ireland A team that's pretty experienced. The Portuguese were physical but our fitness and skills showed in the end.
"It was a nice to see the Leicester boys getting on the scoreboard (Ellis 2, Varndell 2, Crane and Smith) but it was a massive team effort and the way the boys have gelled this week is a credit to the coaches, Stuart (Lancaster) and Paul (Hull)."
Quote:MikeGC
..is that the Cato who couldn't catch a cold.....
It must be.
He missed one sitter of a pass out wide because he was looking for his Mum in the crowd but otherwise I was impressed
