Saxons march on in Churchill quest
England Saxons continued their quest for the Churchill Cup with a 18-3 victory over Scotland A on Bank Holiday Monday at Twickenham.
Two moments of magic from Bath full-back Nick Abendanon booked their place in next weekend’s final.
The Saxons, who finished fourth in Canada last summer, return to Twickenham next Saturday to face either Ireland A or defending champions New Zealand Maori for the title.
Abendanon sparked a drab encounter into life just before the interval when he laid the platform for David Paice to score England’s first try with two elusive runs deep into Scottish territory.
And shortly after the restart, Abendanon latched on to Danny Cipriani’s neat kick through the Scotland defence, chipped forward again and won the race to the touchdown.
On a heavy Twickenham pitch, they were the two most illuminating moments in a stop-start encounter dominated by the forward battle.
The Saxons bossed the breakdown all afternoon, with Newcastle number eight Phil Dowson particularly effective.
Olly Barkley booted England into an early lead but the Saxons were then forced on to the back foot for long periods of the opening half.
Scotland began in relatively enterprising fashion, showing better direction and more invention than in their tough 13-9 win over the USA last Wednesday.
But the Scots could not convert their dominance into points as the England defence stood firm and fly-half Phil Godman – not a recognised goal-kicker – missed two penalty chances.
Abendanon finally injected some life into the game with a break down the left wing and then another surging run deep into the Scottish 22.
England finally had some momentum to their rugby and Paice, the London Irish hooker, barrelled to the line and touched down one-handed.
Barkley’s conversion opened the Saxons a 10-0 half-time lead – and it was extended soon after the break when Cipriani split the Scottish defensive line.
Abendanon cut in off the left wing, showed clever footwork to kick the ball on and then chased it down to score.
Scotland came back at England in the closing stages, with replacement Graeme Morrison slotting a simple kick to put his side on the scoreboard.
They cranked up the pressure again and Cipriani was sin-binned with six minutes remaining for deliberately killing the ball in front of England’s posts.
The Saxons rounded off the afternoon with a penalty slotted by replacement centre Nils Mordt.
The Scorers:
For England Saxons:
Tries: Paice, Abendanon
Con: Barkley
Pens: Barkley, Mordt
For Scotland A:
Pen: MacRae
England Saxons: 15 Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), 14 Paul Sackey (London Wasps), 13 Kevin Sorrell (Saracens), 12 Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby), 11 Tom Voyce (London Wasps), 10 Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), 9 Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), 8 Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons), 7 Will Skinner (NEC Harlequins), 6 James Haskell (London Wasps), 5 Jim Evans (NEC Harlequins), 4 Richard Blaze (Worcester Warriors), 3 John Brooks (Northampton Saints), 2 David Paice (London Irish), 1 Neal Hatley (London Irish, captain).
Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson (Newcastle Falcons), 17 Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby), 18 Tom Mercey (Saracens), 19 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), 20 Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers), 21 Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons), 22 Nils Mordt (London Irish).
Scotland A: 15 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), 14 Simon Danielli (Border Reivers), 13 Robbie Kydd (Northampton Saints), 12 Nick De Luca (Border Reivers), 11 Simon Webster (Edinburgh Rugby), 10 Phil Godman (Edinburgh Rugby), 9 Mark McMillan (London Wasps), 8 Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors), 7 Donnie Macfadyen (Glasgow Warriors, captain), 6 Alasdair Strokosch (Edinburgh Rugby), 5 Mark Rennie (Bourgoin), 4 Andy Hall (Newport Gwent Dragons), 3 Ed Kalman (Border Reivers), 2 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), 1 Craig Smith (Edinburgh Rugby).
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson (Glasgow Warriors), 17 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby), 18 Craig Hamilton (Border Reivers), 19 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), 20 Rob Chrystie (Border Reivers), 21 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), 22 Calum MacRae (Border Reivers).
