“We dominated the first half, scored a good try and could have had another.  The Italians were very competitive, as we expected, but I thought our defence was excellent, except for one slip in the first half which led to their try.”

Simon Hardy, England Saxons Assistant Coach

“I thought the team did really well.  The fact that we were choosing from only six Premiership clubs shows the strength of the Guinness Premiership.  The players played exceptionally well away from home.  The forwards played very well, setting up a great set of backs.  To score five tries must be considered a good achievement with only three days preparation against a good Italian side.”

Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons, captain)

“I think we did very well considering we’ve only been together for four days and had some changes on top of that.  The second half particularly was very sharp and I thought the tight five stood out, especially with their excellent driving lineouts.  It was a much improved performance from last week.  Adrian Jarvis (fly half) controlled the game well and got us in the right areas of the field and deserved the man of the match award.”

Ben Woods (Newcastle Falcons)

“It was a very physical first half and our forwards’ performance paved the way for the backs to exploit the space in the second half.  They were hard in contact and challenged our set piece, but we sorted it out in the second half and as they tired we scored two crucial tries that put us ahead, and we managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over.”

Adrian Jarvis (Harlequins, man of the match)

“I thought we did really well considering we’ve only really been together four days.  We did what we set out to do, we tied them in and our fitness showed in the second half.  We got such good ball from the pack, it was awesome.  When Danny (Care) came on he was very quick off the base and looked dangerous.  With Tom (Guest) at number 8, we all knew each other and it was nice to play together.  It was great that all the ‘Quins boys put in good performances.  Tom had a great game and Will (Skinner) played really well when he came on too.”

Danny Care (Harlequins)

“We knew they would fire at us.  It was a tough start but the boys did very well wearing them down.  I tried to make an impact when I came on against a tired defence and get the game going forwards.  The pack gave us quick ball so we were able to do that.”

Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie)

“It was a good result for us, they certainly tried to make it difficult.  But in the second half we came together and managed to get some fluidity into the game.  We moved the ball thanks to our forwards, and mixed up the game plan.  The pack made such an impact on them in the first half that it created space for us after the break.”

Nick Kennedy (London Irish)

“Our game plan was to squeeze them up front and I thought the pack did a great job in that respect.  When the game loosened up we took it wide and executed that very well.  The Italians were very competitive at the breakdown and made it tough for us.  It was disappointing to let in the two tries as we did, we just lost a bit of concentration, but overall there are lots of positives to take from the game.”

Alex Crockett (Bath Rugby)

“It took us a while to break them down but eventually our patience paid off and our fitness showed.  I also thought we put in a good defensive effort.  The Italians were very good tacklers and their strong pack worked our forwards.  But our pack dominated in the end and thanks to their work we were able to create space and exploit it, particularly in the second half.”

Ends