2 try England debut for Christophers

2 try debut
By Duncan Wood
May 27 2002

What a week for Phil Christophers! On Thursday, the Bristol supporters voted him Player of the Season in his first season with the Shoguns. Yesterday, he made his debut for England against the Barbarians and scored two tries.

It was always going to be a fascinating clash between a youthful looking England side and a Barbarians team packed with experienced internationals. Frankly, the England performance was superb and Phil Christophers played his part.

He had one early sprint down the left (albeit from a slightly forward looking pass from Geoff Appleford) although Christian Cullen was in position to make the tackle and stop him getting to the line. He also made a good break in order to set up the position from which James Forrester scored his memorable try.

Phil's tries came in the second half. Only a few minutes in, he took a wayward pass from Andy Gomarsall which was intended for James Simpson-Daniel but the winger could only tip it on. Phil cut back inside and headed into the heart of the forwards. He lowered his head and showed great strength to drive into the tackle and then he twisted and turned and finally forced his way over.

For those of us who are used to seeing him sprinting down the line and unleashing sidesteps, it was a slightly more robust effort than usual but he deserves credit for his courage and determination and knowing exactly where the line was.

His second try was only a few minutes from time and was a much simpler effort. Ben Johnston and Kevin Sorrell, the Saracens pair, did the hard work and Sorrell popped the ball up for Christophers to run it in from the 22. He was unchallenged and was able to coast in behind the posts and savour the moment.

He had a very satisfactory debut and, when interviewed on Sky later, confessed that he'd never played in such a quick game and felt like he had cramps after 55 minutes. He went on to say that playing at Twickenham and scoring in front of 60,000 people was like a dream come true.