February 28, 2008

England Saxons kicked off their 2008 season with two impressive victories over Ireland A and Italy A last month to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches over more than 18 months. 

Leicester Tigers No 8 Jordan Crane led the Saxons to victory in their opening match of their abbreviated Six Nations over an experienced Ireland A outfit (31-13) in front of his home fans at Welford Road.  Then Phil Dowson following this up by leading a much changed side to a resounding five try 38-15 win over Italy A in Sicily the following week.

And with five of the 32 players named in the Saxons Six Nations training squad receiving call ups to the senior set up, Saxons has proved an important springboard for England’s top young talent.  Bath flanker Michael Lipman, Exiles’ Paul Hodgson and Luke Narraway of Gloucester were all expecting to pull on Saxons’ shirts, only to find themselves called up to Brian Ashton’s senior squad.

They were joined after the first match by London Irish’s Shane Geraghty, whose man of the match performance for England’s second string against Ireland A, earned his passage to the next level. An injury to Phil Vickery meant Bristol prop Jason Hobson received news of his call up on his 25th birthday in the departure lounge as he prepared to fly to Sicily to take on Italy A. 

England Saxons coach Steve Bates hopes that more will follow in their footsteps.  “England Saxons is about winning.  But we have tried to do that by playing a dynamic style of rugby that gives the players a chance to show what they can do and stake a claim for the senior side.”

With senior call ups and a clash with Guinness Premiership fixtures leaving him picking the squad to face Italy A from only half the Premiership teams, Bates has had to rely on the services of 35 players for the two matches.  But far from resulting in a lack of continuity, Bates says it’s given more players the opportunity to showcase their talents. 

“I’ve been really impressed with the way all the players have performed, especially bearing in mind the number of changes we had to make to the line-up that beat Ireland in our opening game and the brief time they’ve all had to get to know each other.  I think it’s a great indication that we can still field such a strong and competitive squad despite only picking from half the Premiership. Every one of the players can be very proud of their performance.”