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Varndell stars in England Saxons win

by Paul Bolton


	Crane leads by example photo by Getty

1 February 2008

England Saxons 31 - 13 Ireland A
Welford Road, Leicester

Tom Varndell made himself at home at Welford Road this evening by scoring two tries in an emphatic win for the England Saxons over an experienced Ireland A side.

The Leicester Tigers wing said that he was looking forward to returning to England colours on his home ground and Varndell did not disappoint the Welford Road faithful. He scored two sparkling second half tries as the Saxons eventually turned their first half forward superiority into points.

An injury-time try from Varndell’s fellow wing-man Delon Armitage put the seal on victory for the Saxons in the first of two internationals this season after a performance that delighted head coach Steve Bates.

“We put in the groundwork in the first half which meant that we could open up in the second half,” said the former England scrum half.

“We controlled the game and dominated in terms of territory. I was a bit concerned that we had not turned that dominance into points.

"But we were playing against a good Ireland side and we took our chances well in the second half.”

Conditions were not made for open rugby with a raw wind and snowstorms before and during the game.

Ireland also made life difficult for England by picking off lineout ball in the first half and scoring a well-worked try from Ospreys-bound winger Tommy Bowe after lock Ryan Caldwell had stolen one of David Paice’s lineout throws.


Hartley sets up try number two photo by Getty

But Paice scored a try himself, rounding off a period of sustained pressure by England in which the impressive Jason Hobson had the Ireland scrum creaking.

Paice’s try followed an opening penalty by Ryan Lamb who soon had to leave the field with a shoulder injury.

But England coped well with the reshuffle. Shane Geraghty did an admirable job as a fill-in fly half and Armitage took over the kicking, landing two second half penalties as well as converting his own try.

Though England were 8-10 down at the break they gradually took control in the second half after Armitage had traded penalties with former Harlequins fly half Andy Dunne.

Varndell’s first try came after Geraghty found his right win in space with a precision crossfield chip. Varndell’s pace and finishing skills did the rest.

Varndell then applied another superb finish to a flowing move with replacement hooker Dylan Hartley delivering the scoring pass with a deft one-handed off-load.

England were rampant in the closing stages and it came as no surprise when they added a fourth try with the final play of the match. They again stretched Ireland with confident handling and created space for Armitage to squeeze over in the corner for the try which he converted from touch.

The game was England’s first A international at Welford Road in ten years and Jordan Crane, the Leicester number eight, had the honour of leading England to victory and enhancing his own reputation with an all-action display.

England Saxons: Nick Abendanon (Bath); Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Delon Armitage (London Irish); Ryan Lamb (Gloucester), Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons); Nick Wood (Gloucester), David Paice (London Irish), Jason Hobson (Bristol), Tom Palmer (London Wasps), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons), Ben Woods (Newcastle), Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers – captain).

Replacements: Anthony Allen (Gloucester) for Lamb 17, Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) for Paice 50, George Skivington (Wasps) for Palmer 60, David Wilson (Newcastle Falcons) for Hobson 60, Mike Brown (Harlequins) for Varndell 77, James Grindal (Newcastle Falcons) for Dickson 78, Will Skinner (Harlequins) for Woods 79.

Ireland A: Gavin Duffy (Connacht); Tommy Bowe (Ulster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Shane Horgan (Leinster – captain), Johne Murphy (Leicester); Andrew Dunne (Connacht), Isaac Boss (Ulster); Cian Healy (Leinster), Frankie Sheahan (Munster), Bryan Young (Ulster), Trevor Hogan (Leinster), Ryan Caldwell (Ulster), Stephen Keogh (Leinster), Shane Jennings (Leinster), Alan Quinlan (Munster).

Replacements: Declan Fitzpatrick (Ulster) for Young 59, Niall O’Connor (Ulster) for Dunne 59, Donncha Ryan (Munster) for Horgan 62, Daniel O’Riordan (Connacht) for Murphy 74, Chris Keane (Leinster) for Boss 74, Adrian Flavin (Connacht) for Sheahan 79, David Pollock (Ulster) for Keogh 79.

Referee: Mr P Allan (Scotland)

Scorers:
England Saxons. T: Varndell 2, Paice, Armitage. C: Armitage, P: Lamb, Armitage 2
Ireland A. T: Bowe C: Dunne, P: Dunne 2

Attendance: 10,749