Canada out to de-throne Saxons
Canada will go for the glory of raising their first ever Churchill Cup when they meet England Saxons in the Championship Final on Saturday.
The USA Eagles will face France A in the Plate final, while Russia meet Uruguay in the Bowl final, which kicks off the tripleheader finals day at the state of the art MLS stadium.
With a historic 33-27 win over France A, the Canadians earn top billing in the Cup finals and face a Saxons side eager to reclaim the crown after being dethroned by Ireland A in the 2009 Championship.
In a game that saw multiple lead changes throughout the hard fought 80 minute battle at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado, Canada scored a key try by Brian Erichsen in the 70th minute and held off a late French charge for the upset win.
The victory is yet another progression for Coach Kieran Crowley, the former All Black who took over the coaching helm in 2008.
“I’m really happy for our guys’, they put in a solid 80 minutes. We put ourselves under the pump a little bit but they showed great character and resilience and came through in the end,” Crowley said.
Erichsen’s try, set up by an intercepted pass by ‘Man of the Match’ Adam Kleeberger, rocked the French resolve as the Canadians withstood multiple penalties late in the game to hold on to the six point victory.
Erichsen said: “I didn’t really know how much room I had, but when I made those first few steps it felt like I was floating on a cloud.
“It feels amazing to beat a quality side like France, we knew it was going to take a lot from us and we had to be ruthless. We had fifteen guys working to the bone and in the end we pulled it out.”
Earlier, Canada’s finals opponents the England Saxons claimed the top of Pool B with a four-try victory over the USA Eagles.
Wing Tom Varndell led the way for the Saxons with two tries, while Anthony Allen and Duncan Bell each put a try past the Eagles.
Flyhalf Alex Goode kicked for 10 points, while Wednesday’s Man of the Match Stephen Myler converted one off the bench.
Penalties from both sides accounted for most the first half scoring tally.
Goode gave the Saxons an early boost off two penalty kicks within the first seven minutes of the game and Varndell dove into the corner a minute later to propel the Saxons ahead to an early 11-0 lead.
Thanks to flyhalf Volney Rouse’s boot, USA put up six points before the half and went to the benches trailing 18-6, following a quick lineout that led to an Anthony Allen try and the extras from Goode.
Rouse finished the day with all of the USA’s nine points, after kicking another penalty through early in the second half to bring them within nine, but that was as close as they came.
Although there were some very close looks at the try line, the Eagles’ efforts were not rewarded. Finally, during a span of 10 minutes, the Eagles made two costly mistakes that turned into 14 points by their Saxon counterparts, resulting in a 32-9 final.
Despite the loss, USA head coach Eddie O’Sullivan was happy with his team’s perseverance against a top flight Saxons side.
“I can’t be too disappointed,” O’Sullivan said. “We had nine changes to this squad and several new combinations. This was a learning experience for our team and when you make errors against a side like the England Saxons, whose players are fully professional, you know they will capitalize on them.
“In the end, our guys kept plugging away and each and every one of them left it all out on the field,” he added. “I was happy with that.”
