British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Ireland A records win over England Saxons
While the British and Irish Lions team is taking on the might of the Springboks on home soil in South Africa, one should not think that there is no rugby being played at home. Quite the opposite is true in fact and this week saw some great action between the Ireland A side and the England Saxons.
The action was part of the Churchill Cup which saw the two teams clash in the final. Before this, the Irish had played against Georgia in another action packed game.
The star of the game was undoubtedly Fergus McFadden who was called an inspiration by the rest of the team. He bettered his two tries in the last game by ensuring that he got three conversions and ensured a safe penalty during the clash against the Saxons. The Irish A team scored six tries in all with Isaac Boss, Sean Cronin, John Muldoon, Johnne Murphy, Devin Toner and Felix Jones all placing the ball on the right side of the try line.
On the day the Irish just proved too strong for the Saxons who seemed to be taken by surprise, when it came to the intensity of play of their opposition. This is the first time that the Irish have lifted the Churchill cup and in so doing they have ended a two year run by the Saxons. The final score saw the Irish trounce the Saxons by 49 points to 22.
This certainly is proving to be a great year for Irish rugby and who knows what else they will win during the course of the year.
IRELAND ‘A’: Felix Jones (Seapoint/Leinster); Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster), Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster), Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht), Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Neil Best (Northampton Saints) (capt), Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster), Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster).
Replacements used: Niall O’Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) for Henry (44 mins), John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht) for O’Connor (52), Denis Fogarty (Cork Constitution/Munster) for Cronin (63), Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster) for Healy, Trevor Hogan (Blackrock College/Leinster) for Toner, Simon Keogh (Old Belvedere/Leinster) for Boss, James Downey (Northampton Saints) for Matthews (all 75).
ENGLAND SAXONS: Nick Abendanon (Bath); Noah Cato (Saracens), Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers); Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints), Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons); David Flatman (Bath), Rob Webber (London Wasps), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Stuart Hooper (Bath), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons) (capt), Ben Woods (Leicester Tigers), Luke Narraway (Gloucester).
Replacements used: Dean Schofield (Sale Sharks) for Hooper (54 mins), Tom Guest (Harlequins) for Narraway, Tom Mercey (Saracens) for Cole (both 56), Danny Cipriani (London Wasps) for Myler, Shane Geraghty (London Irish) for Barritt (both 60), Joe Simpson (London Wasps) for Young (65), Joe Ward (London Wasps) for Webber (70).
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)