Saxons seal eight try thriller

The visitors found themselves trailing 8-12 at the half-time break but ran in three second half tries, including the match winner in the 75th minute through Christian Wade to claim their second successive victory over their hosts.

SA A began like a house on fire and ran the ball with every opportunity. The opening two minutes was all the home side as they took the ball through the phases and into the Saxons' 22. A breakdown infringement led to SA A being awarded a penalty but flyhalf Francois Brummer pulled his shot at goal horribly to leave the match scoreless.

SA A continued to hod onto the ball and put the Saxons under immense pressure. All that pressure paid off in the ninth minute when Jean-Luc du Preez muscled his way over the try line from five metres out. All credit to lock Rudolph Snyman in the lead up to the try as it was his line-out steal from a Saxons throw-in on their five metre line that handed SA A the possession.

Brummer once again failed to find the target with his shot at goal as the try went unconverted.

England Saxons managed to finally get their hands on the ball and a neat chip kick by Danny Cipriani into space saw wing Christian Wade show his speed to beat a number of would be tacklers. He failed to collect his grubber five metres from the home side's try line and the chance went begging.

The match became a balanced contest from that point as both sides enjoyed spells of possession and both defences were made to work hard.

England Saxons' first chance of the match came in the 29th minute when Thomas du Toit was penalised for collapsing a scrum. Danny Cipriani had the radar locked and split the uprights to reduce the deficit to 3-5.

The visitors took the lead in the 36th minute when a successful driving maul saw Tommy Taylor being helped over the line. Cipriani snap-hooked the conversion attempt as the visitors maintained a three-point lead with thee minutes remaining in the half.

The home side went on the attack in the final minutes of the half and a combination of forward power and backline quick thinking saw Francois Venter get the ball inside England Saxons' 22. He slipped a tackle before releasing Sergeal Petersen on his inside and the flying wing did not need a second invitation.

Brummer found the target on his fourth attempt to ensure SA A went into the break with a 12-8 lead.

SA A started strong and found reward three minutes into the second half when Petersen got his double – again off a Venter inside pass inside the Saxons' 22. Leolin Zas took over the kicking duties and slotted the conversion to extend the lead to 19-8.

Petersen turned provider a minute later when he latched onto a loose ball before collecting it. Quick thinking saw him put the ball onto his foot and Venter beat two English defenders to the try line to grab the fourth try.

Brummer's conversion extended the lead to 26-8 after 46 minutes.

The tries kept coming and two minutes later it was the Saxons who got their second try of the match. Another successful driving maul from a five-metre line-out saw Taylor go over for his second. Cipriani's conversion ensured the deficit was reduced to 15-26 after 48 minutes.

The Saxons remained on the attack and their pressure on the SA A defence paid off in the 56th minute when Matt Kvesic reacted quickest to a loose ball to grab his side's third try of the match. Cipriani had an easy conversion that took the score to 26-22 in the home side's favour.

Once again, the match balanced itself out as the defensive efforts took centre stage. Numerous turn-overs and big tackles became the order of the day. The match ebbed and flowed as each attack kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.

England Saxons were in the ascendency and grabbed the crucial try five minutes from full-time to claim the comeback victory.

Man of the match: Rudolph Snyman and Malcolm Marx were absolutely outstanding and made a massive push for full international selection while Francois Venter was simply sublime in midfield. His running lines, offloads and defensive work rate was second to none. Piet van Zyl was the standout player for the home side though as his sniping breaks and swift service kept his team on the front foot. Donovan Armand displayed plenty of strength while Christian Wade was always dangerous with ball in hand. Danny Cipriani kept his side playing in the correct areas of the field with some clever kicks but the player who stood out for all right reasons, and grabbed two tries in the process, was England Saxons hooker Tommy Taylor.

Moment of the match: Sergeal Petersen and Francois Venter's tries in the first five minutes of the second half seemed to have put the result to bed but England Saxons kept grinding out and Matt Kvesic's 56th minute score brought them within four points and gave them the valuable momentum they needed in the encounter.

Villain of the match: While no-one stepped out of line in a match that was beautifully refereed by Jaco van Heerden, the poor kicking display – both at goal and out of hand – by Francois Brummer saw him fail to slot three kicks at goal and miss touch on more than one occassion in the first half. Inevitably, those missed kicks proved to come back to haunt the home side.

Scorers:

For South Africa A:

Tries: du Preez, Petersen 2, Venter

Cons: Brummer 2, Zas

For England Saxons:

Tries: Taylor 2, Kvesic, Wade

Cons: Cipriani 3

Pen: Cipriani

Teams:

South Africa A: 15 Leolin Zas, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Teboho Mohoje (captain), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Lizo Gqoboka, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Ntando Kebe, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Travis Ismaiel.

England Saxons: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Donovan Armand, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Dave Attwood (captain), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Alec Hepburn.

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Micky Young, 22 Sam Hill, 23 Sam James.

Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Egon Seconds (South Africa)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)