England Saxons beaten on first outing but according to Callard they vow to bounce back

England Saxons 7 vs  Scotland A 13

England Saxons Head Coach Jon Callard insisted that his players would bounce back after their Barclays Churchill Cup defence spluttered at the first hurdle.

Scotland A wing Simon Danielli scored the decisive try in the 64th minute and despite a three-minute siege on the opposition try-line just before the final whistle, England could not break through.  The defeat leaves the Saxons relying on Canada taking advantage of Scotland’s midweek turnaround – they play each other in Ottawa on Wednesday – to keep Pool A open.

England then play Canada at the same York Stadium next Saturday and Callard said:

“There will be a lot of hungry people in the Saxons’ camp this week who will want to prove a point and I am absolutely convinced we will come out with a full of tank of petrol and be raring to go.

“They are extremely despondent because they lost a game they thought they were in with a shout of winning. As coaches we have to keep their minds in the fridge and their bodies on fire.

“What they are playing for is the jersey, their livelihoods and showing that the next generation of England players are going to learn and gain experience from these situations.”

Match captain Paul Hodgson, who ended the match with a bloodied broken nose, said: “I can’t fault the boys’ effort – it was outstanding. We had a lot of possession and territory and the game was definitely there to be won but we didn’t take that opportunity. We were inches away from scoring at the end but that is irrelevant – we didn’t and lost the game. We just have to pick ourselves up; there are still another two games to go and we can make amends.”

The training weather that had seen temperatures rise to 35 degrees was washed away in a whole-match downpour that made the ball and the surface slippery.

And with left-wing Ayoola Erinle withdrawing before kick-off because of a hip flexor muscle injury to be replaced by Chris Bell, England had to adjust both in personnel and conditions.  They created enough but were left counting the cost of missed first-half chances, Bell spilling the ball forward when he dived over the line after collecting Sam Vesty’s clever chip and referee Gary Wise judging that Scottish hands had held the ball up as Dave Seymour grounded it.

The Saxons, with three full internationals in their 22 compared to 11, clawed their way back into a game Scotland had led 6-0 through two Calum McRae penalties.  Dave Walder converted a 60th-minute penalty try after Wise had to reset the scrum three times to give them a 7-6 lead but four minutes later Danielli sped through.

Callard added: “We came up against a good Scots side – I thought we matched them in terms of endeavour and emotion but early on we had two good chances and we didn’t put them away.

“The Scots defended very well at the end but that’s when experience comes in and we could have taken that chance. This is test rugby now for these guys and they have to understand that it is a tough situation - you are not given anything on a plate. When it's presented to you, or you earn it, you have to take it.”

MacRae kicked Scotland into a 3-0 half-time lead with Walder missing a penalty just before the break and the Scottish full-back added another seven minutes after it.   Then England cranked up the pressure to force Wise into awarding the penalty try before ex-Bath wing Danielli landed the killer blow.

In the San Francisco-based Pool B, Ireland A beat USA 28-13.

England Saxons: M Horak (London Irish); D Armitage (London Irish), B Johnston (Saracens), S Vesty (Leicester Tigers), C Bell (Leeds Tykes), D Walder (Newcastle Falcons), P Hodgson (Captain, London Irish); D Barnes (Bath Rugby), J Buckland (Leicester Tigers), S Turner (Sale Sharks), J Hudson (Bath Rugby), D Schofield (Sale Sharks), A Beattie (Bath Rugby), D Seymour (Saracens), K Horstmann (Worcester Warriors): Reps: D Paice (London Irish) for Buckland 65, M Ward (Newcastle Falcons) for Turner 70, B Woods (Newcastle Falcons) for Seymour 70, A Crockett (Bath Rugby) for Horak 25-35 & Vesty 65, K Roche (London Irish) for Beattie 65, N Kennedy (London Irish) for Schofield 72. Unused: R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks).

Scorers: Tries – Pen Try; Con – Walder.

Scotland A: C MacRae (Border Reivers); S Danielli (Border Reivers), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), M Dey (Edinburgh Gunners), R Lamont (Glasgow Warriors); P Godman (Edinburgh Gunners), R Lawson (Captain, Edinburgh Gunners); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh Gunners), F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), C Noon (Biarritz), C Hamilton (Glasgow Warriors), M Rennie (Lyon), R Beattie (Northampton Saints), A Strokosch (Edinburgh Gunners), D Callam (Edinburgh Gunners). Reps: A Kelly (Edinburgh Gunners) A Dickinson (Edinburgh Gunners), A Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), A Hall (Newport-Gwent Dragons), S Gray (Border Reivers), C Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), N Walker (Border Reivers).

Scorers: Try – Danielli; Pens – MacRae (2); Con – MacRae.

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