England 'A'  WIN Churchill Cup

England 'A'  raised their game against Argentina in Edmonton Canada to reclaim the Churchill Cup running in five tries, to win 45-16.

England put in a much better perfomance against Argentina than against Canada the previous week.  They put together some excellent open, running rugby which Coach Joe Lydon (previous England 7s coach) I am sure would have been delighted to see.

England dominated play, especially the driving mauls and some excellent performances put in by all players.  Particular mentions James Simpson-Daniel, Tom Voyce, Paul Sackey - these players I feel are really starting to push for a place in the Autumn Internationals.

Late call up Phil Dowson also had a good game and has impressed throughout the tour.  Phil said:-

“To get the late call up for the Churchill Cup was excellent and a massive opportunity for me. I’ve experienced Joe Lydon coaching before with England Sevens and have always enjoyed the way he coaches and hopefully I can take this experience with me now into next year. Playing in different environments is always beneficial and there’s simply no substitute for experiences like this.”

This was Joe Lydon’s first England tour in charge and he was pleased with the way the players, coaches and management worked together.

“I was pleased with the performance today. We played some good 15 man rugby at times and eradicated many of the mistakes of last week to produce a solid team effort. Our pack was immense and the scrum fantastic. To take Argentina on at their own game which is what they set out to do, was impressive. It was the forwards who laid the platform for the team’s success and those tries scored by the outside backs. As expected the whole bench made a positive contribution, not only maintaining momentum but in all cases enhancing it.”

“The players are the ones who will receive the well earned accolades for large parts of today’s performance but there has been an awful lot of hard work by the whole of the management team, which have contributed to the squads tournament successes. Coaches Simon Hardy and Damian McGrath have been exceptional in bringing this squad together, and developing them individually, in the various units and as a team. “

It has been confirmed today that the Churchill Cup, which was won by England in yesterday's final at the Commonwealth Stadium, will be returning to Edmonton in 2006 .
 
Now in its third year, the tournament which is the focus of a five year alliance between the Rugby Football Union, Rugby Canada and USA Rugby, has grown in popularity and success since its introduction in Vancouver in 2003.  The Churchill Cup Board met in Edmonton this weekend and have confirmed that the tournament will return to Edmonton next June and follow a similar structure to this year's event. The three participating nations will be joined by an invitation side and the matches will be played over two weekends at Commonwealth Stadium.
 

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