Saxons demolish Tonga

England Saxons cruised into the Churchill Cup Final on Sunday with a 41-14 win over Tonga at a soggy Kingsholm.

Saracens prop Matt Stevens was a standout performer as the Saxons scrum power produced three penalty tries with England boss Martin Johnson an interested onlooker.

A try from captain Jordan Crane and the first two penalty tries helped the Saxons to a 24-0 half-time lead.  Billy Twelvetrees also got on the scoresheet after the break.

The result sets up a repeat of last year's final against the Canucks (England won 38-18).

''I thought our scrummaging was outstanding,'' said Saxons Head Coach Stuart Lancaster.

''We gave a couple of kgs away per man but technically we were better.  If you'd have said at the start of the game that we were going to win 41-14 I would have taken that.  Our objective was to reach the final and now we want to win it - last year Canada gave us a real hard game and I am sure it will be the same this time.''

Tonga will now play Italy A or Russia in the Plate final.

''It was a very tough match.  I am very disappointed with the penalty tries.  Without them we would have been in the game,'' said Tonga coach Isitolo Maka.

The Saxons broke through after just 11 minutes when referee Roman Poite lost patience with the collapsing Tongan scrum and awarded a penalty try which Rory Clegg converted.

And four minutes later they were 14-0 up when Crane picked up and drove over to give Clegg another two points.

Tonga struggled to make any inroads into the Saxons 22 with their only good run coming from centre Suka Hufanga but the move broke down.

The Saxons pack were in the ascendency as they sent the Tongan scrum upwards and backwards and Poite headed to the posts for another penalty try.

Right on halftime Clegg made it 24-0 with a penalty and the Saxons continued to turn the screw early in the second half when the fly half landed another.

However, Tonga refused to throw in the towel and they were rewarded for their endeavour to take the line-out rather than penalty kick when captain Kisi Pulu took the ball at the back and when the ball was recycled Scarlets bound- Sione Timani drove over.

But it was small respite as the Saxons forwards overpowered their opponents in another scrum and Poite awarded a hat-trick of penalty tries in the 63rd minute and Ofa Fainga'anuku was yellow carded for his sins.

Mike Brown made an impact when he came on and made a midfield break before Crane showed some deft footwork with a grubberkick for Twelvetrees to gather and score.

That was the end of Twelvetrees' involvement as he was sent to the sinbin and Pepa Kolomotangi scored a consolation try when he picked up and drove over.

The scorers:

For Saxons:
Tries:  Crane, Twelvetrees, Penalty tries 3
Cons:  Clegg 5
Pens:  Clegg 2

For Tonga:
Tries:  Koloamatangi, Timani
Cons:  KS Morath 2

Yellow cards:  Fainga'anuku (Tonga - 62nd min);  Twelvetrees (England - 73rd min)

England Saxons:15 Alex Goode 14 Charlie Sharples , 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Jordan Crane(c), 7 Tom Johnson, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Mouritz Botha , 3 Matt Stevens, 2 David Paice, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements:  16 Joe Gray, 17 Kieran Brookes, 18 Graham Kitchener, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Micky Young, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown.

Tonga:  15 Etimoni Paea, 14 Viliami Helu, 13 Suka Hufanga, 12 Etueni Siua, 11 Viliami Iongi, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Daniel Morath, 8 Pasuka Mapakaitolo, 7 Pepa Koloamatangi, 6 Josh Afu, 5 Emosi Kauhenga, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Semisi Telefoni, 1 Tonga Lea'aetoa.
Replacements:  16 Antonio Halangahu, 17 Ofa Fainga'anuku, 18 Paino Hehea, 19 Tevita Ula, 20 Soane Havea, 21 Sione Fonua, 22 Mateo Malupo.

Saxons crush USA

England Saxons destroyed the USA 87-8 in their opening match of the Churchill Cup at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.

A hat-trick from winger Miles Benjamin, as well as a brace from full-back Mike Brown, helped the Saxons put 13 tries plus a penalty try past the hapless Eagles.

The home pack's dominance was underpinned by an eye-catching display from Matt Stevens who was making his first appearance in England colours since serving a two-year ban for drug use.

Rory Clegg contributed with a 22-point haul from the kicking tee.

Surprisingly, it was the Americans who took the lead, with Tai Enosa landing an early penalty, but it was one-way traffic from there as Stuart Lancaster's outfit laid down an early marker in the defence of their Churchill Cup crown.

A surge from captain Jordan Crane created the chance for Benjamin to cross for his first try and Brown took advantage of sloppy American play to take England clear.

Brown kicked through for Benjamin to sprint on and touch down for his second five-pointer, and Micky Young pounced soon afterwards to inflict more pain on former Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan's team.

The penalty try moved Saxons 33-3 ahead, and the tries continued to flow after the interval, Brown adding another in the early stages of the second half and Tom Johnson dashing over in fine style before Billy Twelvetrees added his name to the scoresheet.

Henry Trinder and Charlie Sharples kept the score ticking over before Kitchener scored one and set up another for Hodgson who cantered over under the posts.

The most scant of consolations arrived late on for the United States as Scott Lavalla powered over from close range.

The scorers:

For England Saxons:
Tries:  Benjamin 3, Brown 2, Young, Penalty try, Johnson, Twelvetrees, Trinder, Sharples, Kitchener, Hodgson
Cons:  Clegg 11

For USA:
Tries:  Lavalla
Pens:  Enosa

England Saxons:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees , 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Micky Young, 8 Jordan Crane (c), 7 Tom Johnson, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements:  16 David Paice, 17 Kieran Brookes, 18 Graham Kitchener, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Alex Goode, 22 Charlie Sharples.

USA:  15 Mike Palefau, 14 Mile Pulu, 13 Tai Enosa, 12 Junior Sifa, 11 Colin Hawley, 10 Troy Hall, 9 Mike Petri (capt), 8 JJ Gagiano, 7 Danny LaPrevotte, 6 Pat Danahy, 5 Scott LaValla, 4 John van der Giessen, 3 Will Johnson, 2 Phil Thiel, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements:  16 Chris Biller, 17 Shawn Pittman, 18 Louis Stanfill, 19 Inaki Basauri, 20 Tim Usasz, 21 Roland Suniula, 22 Andrew Suniula.

Venue:  Franklin's Gardens
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

NZ Maori 26 England A 19

A long-range try in the final minute of extra-time sealed a first ever Churchill Cup win for the New Zealand Maori, who saw of England XV in the Final with a 26-19 victory.

Had the Maori not scored they would have won based on tries scored in the game, but the stamp of the try was a pleasing end to a long day of rugby in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

With the scores tied 19-19 in the 99th minute of play, Caleb Ralph streaked to the five-metre line popping up to Hosea Gear -- who then crossed untouched for the winner.

Before that, in the first period of extra time, New Zealand's Glen Jackson failed to land a drop-goal from 30 metres out.  He was then rewarded for an English hand in the ruck, giving him a 39-metre kick from the touchline for the lead -- but his effort drifted to the left, and the deadlock dragged on.

England fly-half Dave Walder -- in for the injured Alex King -- also missed a drop-goal and then a penalty in extra time.

Jackson could have saved the Maori from extra time in the 84th minute of regular time, but he missed a penalty, and opened the door to England.

Indeed, it was England who had all the early play, and got the scoreboard ticking over with a Walder penalty in the fifth minute, but Ryan Nichols responded two minutes later with a try from 20 metres out -- Jackson failed to convert and the Maori had a tenuous two point lead 5-3.

Newcastle Falcons centre Jamie Noon got the English back into the lead after getting a pass from Henry Paul who release him from 25 metres out.  Walder added the conversion and England had the lead at 10-5 after fifteen minutes.

Maori skipper Corey Flynn then put his side into arrears with a sin-binning for killing the ball as England were threatening to attack.  Walder added his second penalty from the offense to increase the English lead to 13-5.

Walder hit his third penalty of the game to extend the England lead to 16-5 after thirty four minutes.

New Zealand were showing promise on limited possession, but had no answers for the waves of English movement with ball in hand -- and Walder added his fourth penalty to give his side a 19-5 lead at the break.

The Maori cracked the try-line for the first time in the second half when Ralph stayed out on the far left and collected a miss-two that allowed the speedster to go over with a clean pair of heels.  With the conversion the Maori were back in it -- adrift by only 19-12 after 49 minutes.

Two minutes later it was an interception by Jackson -- which he converted himself -- that set by the 19-19 tie that the Maori managed to break at a death.

Man of the Match:  Former All Black wing Caleb Ralph for the Maori was impressive on his second half try, and it was his tireless efforts in the overtime period that finally broke the English defense to put Hosea Gear away for the eventual winner.

Moment of the Match:  Again, involving Ralph, when the inventive winger streaked for some forty metres to set up the Gear try -- ending a 99-minute classic of a game between England and the Maori.

Villain of the Match:  None of note in a relatively clean match -- though the finger could be pointed at Maori captain Corey Flynn for his sin-binning (killing the ball) in the first half -- putting his team under stress early on.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Nicholas, Ralph, Jackson, Gear
Cons:  Jackson 2

England
Try:  Noon
Con:  Walder
Pens:  Walder 4

Referee:  Pearson d.

England A 55 Japan 20

The England XV completed their tour of the Far East with a convincing 55-20 victory over Japan at Tokyo's National Stadium, with Bath fullback Iain Balshaw sending a timely reminder to England senior coach Clive Woodward with a pair of tries.

New Harlequins prop Mike Worsley scored the tourists' first try of the day early on when he crossed the line from short range, ensuring that England were never behind their hosts on the scoreboard, leading 24-10 at the interval.

A try from Namba for the Japanese after some good forward work in the tight kept the game open as a contest, but the intervention of Balshaw from fullback saw the visitors accelerate away.

He intercepted and ran nearly the whole length of the pitch for one of his scores, as well as setting up a try for prop Will Green with a well-judged kick.

England ran in nine tries in total as their strength told late on, with three of them coming from props -- Neal Hatley adding to Green and Worsley's tries.

New Bath scrum-half Martyn Wood helped himself to a pair of tries as the field opened up in hot and humid conditions.

Gloucester wing James Simpson-Daniel and Saracens centre Ben Johnston were the other try-scorers in a game which showed the growing strength in the English game.

The England side was based on the same second-string outfit which claimed the Churchill Cup title in Canada last month, as well as getting the better of a Japan Select XV on Thursday.

But Japan dug in and never gave up, their effort being rewarded right at the end when replacement Takashi Yoshida crossed the line -- Hirose converting for the second time after previously strikng two penalties.

The Teams:

Japan:  T Kurihara (Suntory), D Ohata (Montferrand), H Namba (Toyota Motor), Y Motoki (Kobe Steel), H Onozawa (Suntory), K Hirose (Toyota Motor), Y Sonoda (Kobe Steel), S Hasegawa (Suntory), M Amino (NEC), M Toyoyama (Toyota Motor), H Kiso (Yamaha Motor), A Parker (Toshiba Fuchu), T Ito (Kobe Steel), T Miuchi (capt, NEC), Y Saito (Colomiers).
Reps:  M Yamamoto (Toyota Motor), H Matsuo (Toshiba Fuchu), K Kubo (Yamaha Motor), Y Watanabe (Toshiba Fuchu), W Murata (Yamaha Motor), R Parkinson (Sanix), T Yoshida (Suntory).

England:  I Balshaw (Bath), M Cueto (Sale Sharks, D Scarbrough Leeds Tykes 67), B Johnston (Saracens), H Paul (Gloucester), J Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), D Walder (Newcastle Falcons, O Barkley Bath 73), M Wood (Bath), M Worsley (NEC Harlequins, N Hatley London Irish 58), P Greening (London Wasps, A Titterrell Sale Sharks 65), W Green (London Wasps), A Codling (Saracens, P Volley London Wasps 27), C Jones (A Sheridan 58 both Sale Sharks), P Anglesea (Sale Sharks), A Hazell (Gloucester, D Hyde Leeds Tykes 60), H Vyvyan (capt, Newcastle Falcons).

Points Scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Yoshida, Namba
Cons:  Hirose 2
Pens:  Hirose 2

For England:
Tries:  Balshaw 2, Wood 2, Simpson-Daniel, Johnston, Worsley, Green, Hatley
Cons:  Walder 5

Attendance:  20000
Referee:  Deaker k.

United States 6 England XV (non-cap) 43

England confirmed their standing as the top side in the world as their A-side romped to glory in the Churchill Cup Final, beating the USA Eagles by 43-6 at the Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver.

First-half tries from powerful centre Ben Johnston and skipper and No.8 Hugh Vyvyan, all of which were converted by fly-half Dave Walder, put England into a useful 17-6 half-time lead, with the visitors scoring another four tries in the second half.

Back rower Pete Anglesea, inside back Henry Paul, mobile hooker Phil Greening and starting fullback Iain Balshaw scored England's second-half tries, with Walder kicking another two conversions and Olly Barkley adding one conversion.

However, it wasn't plain sailing early on, with flanker Kort Schubert signalling USA's ambition in an early charge to the posts.  That resulted in a Link Wilfley penalty and Johnston finally put England on the scoresheet in the 24th minute.  The Saracens centre was first to Walder's chip over the Eagles' defence for an easy run-in.

Walder converted and then traded penalties with Wilfley for a 10-6 lead before Vyvyan picked up the ball from Paul's long pass and galloped in.

Pete Anglesea scored England's third try in the second half when he crashed over next to the flag from James Simpson-Daniel's pass and Walder's extras gave them some daylight at 24-6.

The Newcastle Falcon, relishing some game time after missing most of the season with a broken leg, created Paul's try with a dribbled drop-out on his own 22, Vyvyan provided the link and the Gloucester centre beat David Fee to the corner.

There was still time for Phil Greening and Martyn Wood to employ a one-two at the front of the line-out for the hooker to go over, while Iain Balshaw had the last word with a try from Simpson-Daniel's feed.

"English rugby is on a real high at the moment," said Paul after the match.  "It doesn't matter whether you're in New Zealand and Australia or over here -- it's all about playing well as a squad.

"We have done a job here and hopefully we will be good enough if we have to step up.  It's good that England has a pool of around 60 players to chose from rather than just 20 or so."

Paul also saluted Mallinder and assistant Steve Diamond, saying:  "The coaching staff have really fired us.  We have learnt a lot from Jim and Steve and they have done a good job of keeping everyone tight."

England now travel to Tokyo for two games against a Japan Select XV (Thursday, July 3) and Japan (Sunday, July 6) and for Mallinder the job is only half done.

"Three from three -- you can't ask for anything more than that but we set out our goals from the outset and that's winning all five games; that is our No.1 priority.  We have got two tough games in difficult humid conditions; we don't know much about Japan so the challenge is there for us."

The Teams:

United States:  1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Brian Surgener, 6 Conrad Hodgson, 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle (c), 9 Kimball Kjar, 10 Matt Sherman, 11 David Fee, 12 Kain Cross, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 Riaan Van Zyl, 15 Link Wilfley
Reserves:  Jason Keyter, Mark Griffin, Kevin Dalzell, Olo Fifita, Jurie Gouws, John Tarpoff, Mose Timoteo

Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers:

United States
Pen K.:  Wilfley L.M. 2