Callard ponders over-eager England
Bates lauds Scottish discipline
England Saxons coach Jon Callard put his side's 13-7 Barclays Churchill Cup defeat to Scotland 'A' down to a lack of experience.
England, with three full internationals in their 22 compared to 11 for Scotland, enjoyed the majority of territory and possession during the game but struggled to break down the resolute blue defence.
Callard's men had moved ahead with a penalty try just before the hour mark – but within four minutes they were behind again with a try from Simon Danielli.
The Saxons piled forward, committing 12 men to the task of driving over the line, but Scotland defended heroically in the closing stages and held on to mark their tournament debut with a tough victory.
England's slim hopes of mounting a successful defence of the Churchill Cup are now entirely dependant on Canada beating Scotland in Ottawa this Wednesday.
"We came up against a good Scots side who were determined for it," said Callard.
"I felt we matched that in terms of endeavour and emotion but we probably over-focused on trying to play the ball too often and we weren't as pragmatic as we could have been with the ball.
"The Scots defended well at the end but that is where experience comes in and with a little bit of experience we could have taken that chance.
"This is Test rugby now for these guys and they have to understand that it is a tough situation, you are not given anything on a plate. When it's presented to you, or you earn it, you have to take it."
Scotland's coach Steve Bates, a former England 'A' scrum-half, felt his side's discipline was the key.
Scotland were under pressure up front but conceded only one kickable penalty in the first half – England conceded two in the first three minutes.
"You can see from the scrum that they had us under pressure but to not give up a try [in open play] is massive for us," said Bates.
"Those five minutes at the end I just said 'let's not given them any chance to kick a few penalties'.
"We were very disciplined and I was chuffed about that because this was a very tough, physical outing."
