Hepher is happy after Saxons' win
The Saxons scored three times in the first half and added two conversions and a penalty, giving the side a 22-3 lead at the half time whistle.
However South Africa A fought back in the second period hauling themselves to within a point thanks to tries from Francois Brummer, Piet Van Zyl and Sikhumbuzo Notshe.
But the Saxons held on and a try from Ollie Devoto, with two minutes remaining, sealed the win in the first of the two match series.
Commenting on his team victory coach Hepher said: "Hats off to the guys, they dug in at the end to come away with a score at a crucial time to close the game. I’m really pleased – we still have an opportunity to win the series and are already thinking towards next week,"
Another man really proud of his team is the skipper Dave Attwood.
"We’re delighted to come away with the win. You don’t get second chances in international rugby and so it was great to get that done," Attwood stated.
Hepher added that the attention would now turn to clinching the series next week in George and fine tuning some areas of the performance.
"We could have gone about it a bit better in the second half but hats off to the guys, they dug in at the end and came away with a crucial score to close the game.
"I'm really pleased. We've set up an opportunity to try and win the series now. We are already thinking towards next week and we'll start preparing for that," he added.
The Saxons now travel to Cape Town to prepare for the second and final game at Outeniqua Park in George on Friday 17 June.
@EnglandRugby
