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IRELAND 9 - 18 ENGLAND SAXONS

Irish Independent Park, Cork - Friday 30th January 2015†
KO: 19:45 HT: 3-11 Att: 8,200

Ireland Wolfhounds England Saxons 2015

THIRTEEN points from Henry Slade and a neatly-taken Christian Wade try on the final play helped England Saxons to a tense 18-9 victory over Ireland Wolfhounds at Cork's Irish Independent Stadium.

Slade darted over early on before an experienced Wolfhounds side clawed their way back into a hard-fought encounter through the boot of Leinster number 10 Ian Madigan.

Deep into the second half it still seemed very possible that the hosts would completed an industrious fightback, but a cohesive Saxons attack ended with Wade darting through for a close-range try at the very death.

In truth the early exchanges were extremely scrappy, dominated by the whistle of Welsh referee Neil Hennessy as both sides struggled for fluency and infringed at the breakdown.

Two muscular turnovers from returning British and Irish Lion Sean O’Brien – the first after Dominic Ryan chopped down Sam Burgess – hauled the Wolfhounds onto the front foot.

The hosts pressed from decent field position but their promising attack ended when Matt Mullan clamped onto an isolated Irish runner inside the Saxons 22.

Neither team were able to gleam clean possession from a scrappy set-piece either, until the Saxons lineout finally functioned on halfway at the end of the first quarter.

Ireland Wolfhounds England Saxons 2015 A series of heaves spearheaded by Bath Rugby duo Matt Garvey and Rob Webber dragged Jon Callard’s men deep into Wolfhounds territory before Exeter back-row allies Thomas Waldrom and Dave Ewers combined brilliantly.

The ball was spun right into the hands of Elliot Daly and the young Wasps centre showed neat footwork and impressive power to beat opposition skipper Felix Jones, fighting to within five metres.

With defensive numbers severely depleted, Slade spotted a gap close to the ruck and sliced in past tighthead Mike Ross to open his team’s account. He could not add a difficult conversion from wide on the right but there would be an immediate opportunity for more points.

As Wolfhounds recovered their own restart, Waldrom stormed through on Ian Madigan and Matt Kvesic earned a holding on penalty. From 45 metres, Slade did not err and Saxons were 8-0 ahead.

With a starting side featuring 13 full internationals, the men in green were always likely to pose problems with ball in hand and enjoyed a spell of territory.

Despite the efforts of replacement Maro Itoje, who was excellent in defence after replacing James Gaskell early on, Madigan pulled three points back when Kvesic conceded a penalty for obstruction.

It was a just reward, but the Saxons came back strong – with Ewers again hugely prominent. First he and Henry Thomas forced an infringement for Daly to go close with a long-range penalty before some close-quarter surges presented Slade with another chance for three points on half-time after O’Brien was over-zealous on the floor.

The 2013 Junior World Championship-winner landed the kick and the sides went into the changing rooms with Saxons 11-3 up.

It was the hosts that started brighter after the break and Daly streaked away just minutes into the second period, only to see his chip ahead covered well by the covering defence.

From there the Wolfhounds grabbed a stranglehold on the foundation of a strong scrum and some monumental graft from Ulster lock Iain Henderson. Two Madigan penalties reduced the deficit to just two points and tension descended along with a great deal of drizzle.

It took consummate class from Worcester Warriors full back Chris Pennell under the high ball for England to hold parity in the territorial tussle.

Ireland Wolfhounds England Saxons 2015 Christian Wade However, Callard’s replacements wrestled the game back. Joe Simpson took over from skipper Lee Dickson at scrum half and sparked a superb counter to reverse the momentum, linking up nicely with Chris Ashton – who showed willing and ambition throughout.

Carl Fearns brought immense physicality and there was a scrum penalty after Northampton Saints loosehead Alex Waller ploughed through Nathan White.

A lineout maul gathered pace and Slade found Wade close to the right touchline to seal a fine result for the Saxons and give an on-looking Stuart Lancaster plenty to ponder before the start of the RBS 6 Nations.