Saxons, Canada in pole position
Canada and England Saxons are in pole position after the opening pool rounds of the 2009 Churchill Cup.
The Saxons edged past Argentina Jaguars 28-10 in Pool B, while Canada were comfortable Pool A winners 42-10 over Georgia in Saturday’s double-header at Infinity Park, Glendale.
In beating Georgia in a first ever Test, Canada won a pool round match for the first time in the tournament’s seven year history and they now face Ireland A at the same venue on Wednesday.
A sublime performance by DTH van der Merwe and man-of-the-match Ander Monro set the pace for Canada with tries from flank Nanyak Dala, van der Merwe and Aaron Carpenter.
Replacement fullback Matt Evans – in just his fifth test, scored a brace of tries – scoring in the 66th and 75th minutes to ice the win for Canada.
James Pritchard, who moved from fullback to the wing midway through the second half, had a tremendous kicking display with four conversions and three penalties for 17 points after hitting the posts on his first two attempts in the first half.
Georgia scored a try through David Dadunashvili, converted by Merab Kvirikashvili, who also kicked a penalty but it was small consolation for coach Tim Lane, whose side play Ireland A next Sunday.
Lane admitted: “Defensively we were pretty ordinary so if you don’t win your first up tackles it gives them the go-forward.
“We knew it was going to be tough without so many players but we have got to deal with what we have got and get stuck in. Ireland A will be good and we need to work hard this week.”
England Saxons kicked off their Churchill Cup defence with a hard fought victory over the Jaguars.
Second half tries from Matt Smith, Tom Varndell and man-of-the-match Joe Simpson secured victory.
In a physical encounter the two sides were at loggerheads in the first half which saw penalties occupying the scoreboard, one from Danny Cipriani and two from Martin Rodriguez which saw Argentina leading 6-3 at the break.
Smith crossed under the posts after receiving an inside pass from Shane Geraghty.
But Argentina were never far behind and Rodriguez potted another penalty to take his count to three and the scores to 10-9.
Two further errors followed one for Argentina crossing and one for England being offside, to keep the Saxons 13-12 ahead.
It took scrumhalf Simpson to break the deadlock, popping up from the back of a scrum to run over on the outside to take the Saxons into a 20-12 lead.
Argentina struck in the 63 minute through replacement Tomas Roan.
Varndell took the Saxons eight points clear on the 70th minute, making a short 10-metre dash for the line after grabbing the ball from the ruck and a drop goal by Stephen Myler on the whistle cemented victory.
Man-of-the-match Joe Simpson said: “It was a big match today and the heat played a massive factor, playing in the mid afternoon in this heat is hard work. The altitude also plays a part, it really takes the puff out of you.
“Argentina put up a fight. It was only in the last couple of minutes that we managed to finish the game off. We look ahead to next week now and stepping up a gear.
“I thought the support we had today was fantastic and I think the crowd will grow for our match next Sunday with USA.”
Jaguars coach Jose Orengo said: “It was a challenge today for our players because most of them don’t play professional rugby in Argentina. It was a good step for us and we will try to improve for our next match and prepare well for our game against the USA on Wednesday.”
Churchill Cup pools:
Pool A: Canada, Georgia, Ireland A
Pool B: Argentina Jaguars, England Saxons, USA
Results:
Saturday June 6
England Saxons 28 Argentina Jaguars 20
Canada 42 Georgia 10
Remaining fixtures (kick off times local):
Wednesday June 10
(Infinity Park, Glendale)
Canada v Ireland A (16.30)
USA v Argentina Jaguars (19.00)
Sunday June 14
(Infinity Park, Glendale)
USA v England Saxons (13.00)
Georgia v Ireland A (15.30)
Sunday June 21
(Dick’s Sporting Goods Park)
Churchill Cup finals (12.05, 14.30, 16.45)
