Micky Young: Scored one of 13 Saxons tries
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)
Canada got their Churchill Cup campaign off to a winning start on Saturday with a 26-12 win over Italy "A" at Franklin's Gardens.
The Canadians ran in three tries past their opponents with the Italians unable to score one of their own, giving credit to the winners runners-up finish in last year's tournament.
Number eight Aaron Carpenter, prop Jason Marshall and full-back James Pritchard all went over the white-wash in a 12-minute blitz just after half-time.
Pritchard also bagged eight points with the boot, while fly-half Ander Munro slotted a first-half drop goal.
However, Valerio Bernabo's yellow card early into the second half reduced the Azzuri to 14 men and gave the Canucks the upper hand, the Canadians duly took advantage, racing out into a 16-9 lead.
Man-of-the-match Chauncey O'Toole, who set up the try for Pritchard, said: "That was great win for us - we are really pleased with that. It was a great effort at the end to keep them out."
The scorers:
For Italy A:
Pens: Tebaldi 4
For Canada:
Tries: Carpenter, Marshall, Pritchard
Cons: Pritchard
Pens: Pritchard 2
Drops: Monro
Italy A: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Andrea Bacchetti, 13 Denis Majstrovic, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Michele Sepe, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Valerio Bernabo' (capt), 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Corniel Van Zyl, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 1 Alberto de Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Giulio Toniolatti, 25 Durandt Gerber.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Conor Trainor, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Phil Mackenzie, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Brian Erichsen, 4 Tyler Hotson, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Pat Riordan (C), 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Hamilton, 17 Andrew Tiedemann, 18 Mitch Gudgeon, 19 Nanyak Dala, 20 Sean White, 21 Mike Scholz, 22 Matt Evans.
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Comments
excitationz says...
youknowit says... : I'm trying to remember the score-lines from the World Cup qualifying matches between Canada and the USA... ok, I remember now...
2011 qualifiers : 41 - 18 (Canada)
2007 qualifiers : 56 - 7 (Canada)
All-time? Canada has a winning percentage of 72% versus the Eagles.
But I guess we'll see which North American squad is superior as they both gear-up for the World Cup:
August 6, CAN vs USA (Toronto)
August 13, USA vs CAN (Denver)
Posted 01:41 10th June 2011
5Lock4ward says...
@J_HDK, I like your idea very much.
@kybone, Your idea is good in terms of helping other European nations at the 2nd and 3rd tier of international rugby. But it could back-fire, for lack of a better word, by allowing the cream of Germany & Portugal to rise to the top only to be picked up by Premiership and Pro12 teams. Also it doesn't address the needs of teams that are closer to international success such as the USA and Canada in terms of getting their players playing high level club rugby.
Posted 15:20 08th June 2011
kybone says...
If you're looking at helping the other european nations i actually think getting club sides from the likes of Russia, Portugal, Georgia etc into european club competition would benefit them more as the top players would be more enticed to stay at home. im not talking about putting them in the heinekken cup but maybe into the amlin cup or even a third tier competition. Ive already heard of plans to allow the Russian champions and a team from Germany into the amlin cup and i think it would be a good idea to have teams from all across europe playing in amlin cup 'qualifiers' with the losers going into a third tier comp. Only 20 teams currently make up the amlin cup so there is room for at least 4 more.
Posted 09:45 08th June 2011
lawynd says...
@J_HDK - that's actually a superb idea. Spain, Romania and Georgia I'd expand it to, with a league rather than knock-out format. It'd be even nicer if it went alongside a tiered, expanded 6N league at the same time.
Posted 13:54 07th June 2011
J_HDK says...
Churchill cup needs to be done away with and develop a bigger Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Japan, Canada, USA.
6N 'A' squads should play in a broader European Nations Cup with Spain, Romania etc .
Posted 20:19 06th June 2011
5Lock4ward says...
@youknowit, Upon 2nd read of your comment I must ask what in the world you are talking about? There is no league of any quality for rugby in the US. The game is amateur in the States even at the highest level 'Super League'. Also the US has not passed Canada in the IRB rankings and always has their hands full with their neighbors to the north. Keep your eye on the Churchill Cup as they could meet after the pool stages. As for Georgia, they gave some of the big boys a run at the last RWC so...again not sure what you're on about. Now as for Lavalla, as much as I support homegrown American players there are none on the Eagles in the mold of Parisse. To suggest so embarrasses Lavalla, yourself and knowledgable American rugby fans everywhere. Lastly, just to reiterate everyone else's corrections, your Eddie O stats were way off and everyone knows he's using the Eagles as a stepping stone back to higher level test-match rugby just like Andy Robinson used Edinburgh.
Posted 13:41 06th June 2011
houston_11 says...
@Sebb
I have to agree with you on this one about developing rugby in America, at least the on the concept. I don't think they can jump straight in. As you say, the devleopment of VFL into AFL is testament to this fact and it's a much smaller country/population.
Personally, I would look at a region, similar in the way the NFL is divided and focus on that within neighbouring states. This could pool in a lot more players and allow for affordable travelling. The advantage that America would have is the ability to build this within the school system - "State Champions to National Champions" etc. This could create the opportunity for professional teams and possibly bring in players from other countries... just look at the boost football got when Pele played in America.
Their current school systems for American sport are also designed to breed the best... only the cream of the crop making to professional status. Imagine that type of competition for Rugby.... unbelievable if achieved!!!!
Posted 13:33 06th June 2011
lawynd says...
I think that if more people were exposed to rugby in the US, they'd enjoy it. I know that the American friends I've convinced to catch 6N games on BBC America have been surprised by how 'fun' it was to watch, even without someone available to explain what's going on to them. I think what they also really need is for a college that isn't a traditional American football hotbed (or has a rubbish team) to start a rugby programme. Americans support their colleges even more rabidly than their professional sports teams at times.
Posted 11:11 06th June 2011
5Lock4ward says...
@youknowit, that was not a full strength England side. Not even close.
@Sebb, I know what you're trying to say but I disagree. A nation as big as the US could grow the game by having regional rugby unions that were pro-active not only in introducing youth to the game but also filtering the talent upwards to the national team via regional select squads. The lack of a pro-game and exposure of the game to young people is the biggest obstacle. That and the NFL which is boring but unfortunately the most popular sport in the US for some reason which escapes me.
Posted 15:55 05th June 2011
5Lock4ward says...
@Crunchfit, That was not a full strength Eagles side. Most of their players who play professionally in Europe (Chris Wyles, Hayden Smith, Zee Ngwenya) were not named in the Churchill Cup squad as they're being rested after the long domestic season. MInd you I think that is stupid but I'm not an Eddie O fan for reasons such as this. Also their captain, Todd Clever who currently plays in Japan and previously played Currie Cup and Super Rugby for the Lions, was not named in the match day 22.
Posted 15:50 05th June 2011
Silverstream says...
oh, and if you think that was a full england team!? there was not one player in the starting line up that was starting in England's 1st XV in the 6 nations. do your research
Posted 12:14 05th June 2011
Silverstream says...
I don't really know what your on about 'youknowit'? Firstly Eddie O'sullivan was given the most talented Irish players the country has ever had and he failed to succeed with them, crashing out of the rwc2007 in the group stages when their world rankings (2nd behind the allblacks in the year leading up to the rcw) and FAILING to win several grandslams with Ireland. Secondly, Ireland have only won 2 grand slams since the start of the 6 nations, one in 2009 after we sacked Eddie and the other was 40 years ago. And comparing Ireland to the other 'minow' nations is ridiculous. Ireland have the two best club teams in Europe, the last Lions tour they had more players than any of the other nations. Essentially, every point you made is flawed, try researching before making sweeping statements that can't be backed up. The reason why USA/other minow nations are so far behind the teams in the 6 Nations/Tri Nations? its nothing to do with coaches, Rugby is a professional sport in those countries and isn't everywhere else. you can't coach if you don't have the players. Simple as that.
Posted 11:42 05th June 2011
5Lock4ward says...
A few meager Americans in the European professional game + no pro league in the USA + imported D level Pac Islanders, South Africans and Australians = USA Eagles continued failure. Even the best American college team, Cal U, is full of imports. The Eagles need young Americans introduced to the game and a pro-league for them to aspire to.
Posted 06:04 05th June 2011
youknowit says...
trackson. they were playing against what is basically a full england team and they put out their second team. lavalla is only 22 years old. played rugby in america. then went on rugby scholarship to trinity college dublin and played a bit for ulster this season. hes going to stade francais next season. home grown player.playing rugby since he was a young kid. trying to further his chances by moving abroad. can play second row or backrow. in the mold of parisse. theyve brought in a top international coach in eddie osullivan who won two grand slams with ireland. theyve improved beyond recognition. surpassed other small rugby countries like romania, canada and have grown at the same rate as the other major rugby playing growth spots, russia and georgia. theyve set up quality national leagues. theyve even managed to get the rugby world cup shown on nbc this autumn
Posted 00:56 05th June 2011
crunchfit says...
Also, Matt Stevens' ban was a joke. 2 years was far, far too severe. Obviously, there are so many negatives with cocaine, but surely some sort of warning (e.g. 3 month ban, 6 month ban, fine, etc.) would have been more appropriate. Attoub and Depuis didn't get close for, basically, attempted GBH. Taking something which wouldn't enhance performance and didn't harm anyone doesn't even compare.
Posted 00:01 05th June 2011
crunchfit says...
Was this a first string USA side? That was pretty pathetic.
Would love to see Miles Benjamin on a better team. I've seen a few of his club games and he is fantastic at Worcester. Definitely a Premiership quality player. Worcester are into the Premiership again, aren't they? Should be good to see him some better opponents.
Posted 23:53 04th June 2011
trackson says...
I really don't know what the US rugby is doing with all their money, but it sure isn't going into developing the youth enough. I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now we see the same results. Its a shame, they have potential, but their coaches are still obsessed on turning american football players into rugby players. Sure they have the athleticism, but the skills have to be developed at a young age.
Posted 20:53 04th June 2011