Saxons too good for Wolfhounds

England Saxons dealt with a somewhat timid effort from the Irish Wolfhounds with relative ease on Saturday, prevailing 23-17 in Exeter.

England Saxons dealt with a somewhat timid effort from the Irish Wolfhounds with relative ease on Saturday to claim a 23-17 win at Sandy Park in Exeter.

Saracens scrum-half Ben Spencer and Leicester number eight Thomas Waldrom scored England Saxons' two tries while improving Gloucester fly-half Freddie Burns kicked thirteen points.

It was a result created on a one-sided forward display from the hosts, notably at scrum-time.

Despite the Wolfhounds leading the try count by three to two – their scores coming from David Kearney, Tomas O'Leary and Simon Zebo – the result at Sandy Park was rarely in doubt.

Stuart Lancaster was in the stands and would have been impressed by the efforts of Matt Mullan and George Robson, while Waldrom has done his chances no harm whatsoever following news that Luke Narraway has strained a calf in training.

The scorers:

For England Saxons:
Tries: Spencer, Waldrom
Con: Burns 2
Pen: Burns 3

For Irish Wolfhounds:
Tries: Kearney, O'Leary, Zebo
Con: Madigan

England Saxons: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Andy Saull, 6 James Gaskell, 5 George Robson, 4 Matt Garvey, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Kearnan Myall, 19 Tom Johnson, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Ryan Lamb, 22 Jonny May.

Wolfhounds: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 David Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Chris Henry (capt), 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Devin Toner, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Ian Madigan, 22 Denis Hurley.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)