Saxons prepared for Bear attack
After a week of training at altitude, England Saxons head coach Stuart Lancaster feels his team is ready for their Churchill Cup opener against the Russian Bears on Wednesday.
Lancaster said: “We are all looking forward to the game against Russia. The players have trained well and the whole squad is prepared for a tough week with two games in quick succession.
“Russia performed really well against the United States and I am sure they will present a challenge, which we will not be taking lightly.”
Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints), who was to captain the squad in their Churchill Cup opener, has been called-up to the England touring team in Australia.
Dowson will fly to Australia as cover for Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie), who has a right calf injury.
George Skivington (London Wasps) will now captain the Saxons, with Andy Saull (Saracens) starting at No.7, Brad Barritt (Saracens) will take his place on the bench.
With former England Saxons coach Steve Diamond calling the plays last Saturday, Russia put up an impressive fight against the USA in its Churchill Cup opener.
After leading 15-14 with 40 minutes in the books, the Bears lost steam after the break and eventually fell to the Eagles in a 39-22 final, as a result of an explosive four-try second half from the USA.
Following the loss, Russia has made a several adjustments to the squad ahead of its match versus England Saxons.
Led once again by captain Vladislav Korshunov, the pack features the new addition of Karlo Maglakelidze at loosehead and Evgeny Pronenko retains his place at tighthead. In the second row, Alexander Voytov holds firm at lock, joined by Artem Fatakhov, who makes the move from No.8.
Kirill Kushnarev gets his first start of the tournament, alongside Victor Gresev at flank, with Nikita Medkov rounding out the pack at No.8.
In the backs, Vasily Artemyev slides into the wing after playing fullback on Saturday. Alexey Makovetskiy gets his start at inside center and Igor Klyuchnikov fills the void at fullback.
The match on Wednesday concludes Russia’s pool play, while England Saxons must have a quick recovery before playing hometown favourites, the USA Eagles when the Churchill Cup pool rounds wrap up in Colorado on Sunday.
Teams:
England Saxons: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Micky Young, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Tom Wood, 5 George Skivington (captain), 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Alex Corbiserio, 18 Nathan Catt, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Brad Barritt, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Alex Goode.
Russia: 15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Vasily Artemyev, 13 Mikhail Babaev, 12 Alexey Makovetskiy, 11 Dmitry Gerasimov, 10 Yury Kushnarev, 9 Alexander Yanyushkin, 8 Nikita Medkov, 7 Kirill Kushnarev, 6 Victor Gresev, 5 Artem Fatakhov, 4 Alexander Voytov, 3 Evgeny Pronenko, 2 Vladislav Korshunov (captain), 1 Karlo Maglakelidze.
Replacements: 16 Evgeny Mateev, 17 Vladimir Boyvinnikov, 18 Alexander Khrokin, 19 Sergey Sergeev, 20 Alexander Shakirov, 21 Alexey Korobeynikov, 22 Andrey Kuzin.
Date: Wednesday, June 9
Venue: Infinity Park, Glendale (Colorado)
Kick-off: 15.00 MDT (21.00 GMT)
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garces (France), Marc Nelson (USA)
TMO: Derek Stoltz (Canada)
The 2010 Churchill Cup Pools & Schedule:
Pool A: Canada, France A, Uruguay
Pool B: England Saxons, Russia, USA
Schedule and results:
June 5:
Canada 48-Uruguay 6
USA 39-Russia 22
June 9:
England Saxons v Russia
France A v Uruguay
June 13:
England Saxons v USA
Canada v France A
June 19:
FINALS DAY
