England Saxons edge past South Africa 'A'

The boot of pivot Danny Cipriani helped England Saxons secure their second win over South Africa 'A' by beating them 29-26 in George on Friday.

This was the second match between these two sides, Saxons were victorious in the first game when they held out for a 32-24 win in Bloemfontein last week Friday.  This week, however, the South Africa 'A' side certainly put up a much improved overall performance.

Fly-half Danny Cipriani's fine form off the tee continued from last Friday's performance, which saw the Wasps-bound pivot succeed with five from six, while this week his kicking accuracy was the difference in the end for the visitors as he managed to convert three tries and the ultimate match winning penalty from his five attempts, only missing Taylor's first try.

SA 'A' managed to crossed the whitewash on four occasions which included a brace from Sergeal Petersen and a try apiece from Jean-Luc du Preez and Francois Venter while England Saxons four tries came courtesy of a brace from hooker Tommy Taylor along with a try apiece for Matt Kvesic and Christian Wade.

Despite the home side enjoying a healthy 68 percent possession for most of the opening 40, they only managed to score two tries – through du Preez and Petersen's first try – while an unconverted try scored by hooker Tommy Taylor along with what proved to be the match winning penalty conversion from Cipriani handed the home side a slender 12-8 lead as the players headed into the tunnel.

South Africa 'A' head coach Johan Ackermann's ten changes to his side which lost last week has certainly paid off as a fairly young home side were playing like men possessed in the opening 40.

Fly-half Francois Brummer's form from the tee was rather poor, in comparison to his counterpart, as the pivot missed two easy penalty attempts, in the first half, which could have given the home side a bigger cushion than the four point half-time lead and, in hindsight, a possible win in the end.

The England Saxons' clinical defence, in the opening quarter, was too strong for the home side, the likes of Dave Ewers and speedster Christian Wade held out a wave of relentless South Africa 'A' attacks but a brilliant lineout steal from RG Snyman saw Sharks loose forward du Preez power over form close range for the first points of the game, Brummer missed the conversion.

In contrast to last week's opening half, the home side succeeded in starving their opponents of quality possession and territory and looked after the ball which not only frustrated an experienced England Saxons side but they were also doing all of the tackling.  The visitors having to make 58 first half tackles compared to the 14 of the hosts.

In particular for the visitors, prop Alec Hepburn was instrumental throughout as the Exeter Chiefs hardman kept the home side busy not only at the scrum time but also when he carried the ball as the SA 'A' players found it very difficult to stop him on numerous occasions.  It was from a lineout set piece that saw Taylor control the ball at the back of the maul for his first try.

Speedster Petersen showed his skill when he scored his second try, in the opening minutes of the second 40, after beating three England defenders and was once again heavily involved, moments later, in the build-up that saw his Cheetahs colleague Venter go over for the home side's fourth try after the stand-in captain squeezed in between two Saxons to get his hand first on the ball to dot down.

The visitors were somewhat stunned with this quick second half start from the hosts, but in similar fashion to his first try, front-rower Taylor collected the ball at the back of the maul to crash over for his and England's second try and along with Cipriani's conversion from up against the touchline reduced the home side's lead to 26-15.

Minutes later the visitors made it a four-point game, as the match approached the final quarter, following some persistent pressure deep inside South Africa 'A' territory which saw Gloucester back-row Kvesic scoop up a loose ball to dive over and Cipriani added the extras to make the scoreboard read 26-22.

The experience of this England Saxons side paid off after a clinical attacking passage on the try line of the South Africa 'A', a quick pass out to the flying Wade saw him dive over as Cipriani's conversion handed England a 29-26 lead with less than five minutes remaining and they held on to this three-point lead to secure a second consecutive victory over the South Africa 'A' side and claiming the two-match series, 2-0.

The scorers:

For South Africa 'A':
Tries:  Petersen 2, du Preez, Venter
Cons:  Brummer 2, Zas

For England Saxons:
Tries:  Taylor 2, Kvesic, Wade
Cons:  Cipriani 3
Pen:  Cipriani

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 Oupa Mohoje (c), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 RG 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 Don Armand, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Dave Attwood (c), 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)

England Saxons hold off South Africa 'A'

England Saxons outscored South Africa 'A' four tries to three to hang on for a 32-24 win in Bloemfontein on Friday.

The Saxons looked primed to give South Africa 'A' a thrashing based off their clinical first half, leading 22-3 at the break.

Nick Tompkins, Mike Haley, Matt Kvesic and Alec Hepburn were all excellent for the visitors as they punished the South Africans on turnover ball.  Their handling and offloading also deserves plenty of credit once they settled into the game.

By contrast South Africa 'A' felt completely disjointed.  Time and again the carelessly tried to attack from the wrong areas of the pitch and when the ball consequently went loose, they were punished.

A better second half from the hosts turned a one-sided affair into an actual contest, tries from Francois Brummer, Piet Van Zyl and Sikhumbuzo Notshe trimming England's lead to just a point with the clock running out.

Ollie Devoto's try though sealed the win for England in the final few minutes.  The two sides will meet again in George next Friday.

Several scrums within the opening ten minutes highlighted the number of handling errors coughed up by both sides as they tried to build some familiarity between combinations.

England's forwards wasted no time in getting acquainted with Garth April, the rising star with the Sharks taking some heavy tackles early on.  However he stepped up to land a long-range penalty attempt off the kicking tee to put the hosts ahead 3-0.

Half breaks for Nic Groom and Nizaam Carr for South Africa 'A' went to waste but they remained well in control of possession and territory as England's penalty and tackle counts continued to rise.

The first try though went to the Saxons.  Tompkins and Danny Cipriani tore up the the ground after an interception from the outside centre, made by Semesa Rokoduguni's pressure in defence, and recycling from the ruck Dan Robson's flat pass to Alex Lewington gave England the space for prop Hepburn to finish.  Cipriani converted to make it 7-3.

Turning down a kickable penalty after the Saxons went offside, Scarra Ntubeni then overthrew at the lineout to throw away another big chance.

England were less frivolous, Francois Venter tackling a man without the ball for Cipriani to knock over a penalty and make the score 10-3.

Robson came so close to following those points up with a wonder try, created by Cipriani's flat pass to Rokoduguni to make the break, but in the process of chasing his own kick ahead he appeared to pull up.

There was no catching Rokoduguni a few minutes later though, released down the outside after England attacked on turnover ball, won by Kvesic, before his sublime chip and chase left Leolin Zas trailing behind.

Just as South Africa 'A' thought they were putting something together through Travis Ismaiel they were ripped open again, Robson showing remarkable patience and footwork to dance rings around Venter for England's third try.  Cipriani couldn't convert, but England held a commanding lead at 22-3.

Robson, already struggling, then limped off to be replaced by Micky Young, but England barely seemed to lose a step.  With their back row dominating the breakdown and South Africa 'A' showing little in attack, the visitors comfortably led at half-time.

Seeking a spark Johan Ackermann hauled off April and the entire SA 'A' front row, minutes before the hosts grabbed their first try after returning to the corner before Brummer crashed over, which he converted to make it 10-22.

Cipriani responded with a second penalty to stretch the gap on the scoreboard to 15 points.

Twice the hosts turned down kickable penalties and twice they came up with nothing, allowing England's tiring pack to move away from their own 22 in the process.

South Africa 'A', steadily improving in the second half, were soon over again through replacement scrum-half Van Zyl as he sniped around the edge of the ruck, Brummer's extra two points making it then 17-25.

However getting on top of replacement loosehead Ross Harrison the South African scrum began to play more of a role.

The hosts also had far more steam, finishing off a brilliant counter-attack from well within their own 22 through the excellent Notshe, who started it all with a chip and chase deep in his half and had the pace to finish it off after the final pass from Carr.

Brummer's conversion meant England's 19-point advantage from half-time had been trimmed to just one, and based off the momentum of the second half the game looked like the South Africans' for the taking.

England though came through, Cipriani's low kick and the flick on from Christian Wade setting up an offload off the ground for Devoto to score their fourth try, and the winner, which Cipriani converted to make it 32-24.

South Africa 'A' did their best to fashion a consolation try, but England once more turned it over to secure a deserved win.

The scorers:

For South Africa ‘A’:
Tries:  Brummer, Van Zyl, Notshe
Cons:  Brummer 3
Pen:  April

For England Saxons:
Tries:  Hepburn, Rokoduguni, Robson, Devoto
Cons:  Cipriani 3
Pens:  Cipriani 2

South Africa ‘A’:  15 Leolin Zas, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Garth April, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Oupa Mohoje (c), 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Lukhanyo Am

England Saxons:  15 Mike Haley, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Sam Jones, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Dave Attwood (c), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements:  16 George McGuigan, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Micky Young, 22 Sam James, 23 Christian Wade

Referee:  Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa), Jaco Kotze (South Africa)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)