England Saxons named to face Scotland A - 3/2/12
By RFU Press Office
February 1 2012
DOMINIC Waldouck has replaced Jonathan Joseph in the England Saxons side facing Scotland A at Galashiels on Friday (7.30pm). And Leicester Tigers lock Ed Slater will make his first appearances for England Saxons
| England Saxons debuts for Joseph and Slater | ||||
The Saxons make a total of eight changes to their starting line-up following last weekend’s 23-17 win against the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds. There are first starts in the backline for Jonny May – replacing Matt Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby) - with Nick Abendanon in at full back for the suspended Delon Armitage (London Irish) and Ryan Lamb taking over from Freddie Burns at fly half. Slater replaces London Irish’s Matt Garvey in the second row, Nick Wood and Chris Brooker are in for Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors) and Joe Gray, and Tom Johnson is at No.8 in place of Thomas Waldrom. “We need to back up that performance against the Wolfhounds by getting it right away from home against Scotland this week,” said England Saxons coach Jon Callard. “The endeavour and energy we showed last week at Exeter was first class but not everything was absolutely spot on and we need to improve our accuracy and execution. “We always planned to make changes over the course of these two games and it means there are more chances for those who’ve been playing well in the Aviva Premiership and in Europe this season. “As we saw last week, Thomas Waldrom and Matt Banahan stepped back up to train with the senior squad after 80 minutes for the Saxons so the potential opportunities for this group are very clear.” Slater, 23, made 43 first team appearance for Tigers since signing from Championship side Nottingham in 2010 before being called up by the Saxons. The major positional talking point is in the back row where Johnson – a popular second-half replacement on his home ground last weekend – appears at No.8 at this level for the first time with Callard’s enthusiastic backing. The Saxons coach said: “Tom’s versatility is a major strength and his great leadership qualities will be a big asset. He wants to play anywhere and he’ll bring lots of energy to the position.” Sale Sharks full back Rob Miller and Bath Rugby prop Kane Palma-Newport, 21, will travel to Scotland with the squad as cover. UPDATE.................... DOMINIC Waldouck has replaced Jonathan Joseph in the England Saxons side facing Scotland A
Joseph, 20, had been due to make his first appearance at this level but the London Irish centre makes way because of a groin injury.
“He was experiencing a little soreness when he joined us and aggravated things when he slipped in training,” said Saxons coach Jon Callard.
“He might have played through it but it's in everyone's best interests to err on the side of caution given that he has just returned from a long lay-off.
"JJ has got a bright future but as he’s just come back from a different injury we wouldn't want to compound his problems.”
London Wasps centre Waldouck, 24, toured New Zealand (2008) and Australia (2010) with the senior England side. He made his debut for the Saxons in 2009 against Portugal and this will be his seventh appearance for the side.
England Saxons: 15 Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby); 14 Ugo Monye (Harlequins), 13 Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), 12 Billy Twelvetrees (Leicester Tigers), 11 Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby); 10 Ryan Lamb (Northampton Saints), 9 Ben Spencer (Saracens); 1 Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby), 2 Chris Brooker (Harlequins), 3 Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints), 4 Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers), 5 George Robson (Harlequins), 6 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks, captain), 7 Andy Saull (Saracens), 8 Tom Johnson (Exeter). Replacements: 16 Joe Gray (Harlequins), 17 Rupert Harden (Gloucester Rugby), 18 Kearnan Myall (Sale Sharks), 19 David Seymour (Sale Sharks), 20 Paul Hodgson (London Irish), 21 Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby), 22 Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors). |
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Wednesday February 1, 2012
Issued by Simon Mills
NOTE: Admission is free to Scotland A v England Saxons on Friday at Galashiels. There is live commentary on BBC Radio Scotland and we will direct you to a video highlights package on Saturday morning.
DOMINIC Waldouck has replaced Jonathan Joseph in the England Saxons side facing Scotland A at Galashiels on Friday (7.30pm).
Joseph, 20, had been due to make his first appearance at this level but the London Irish centre makes way because of a groin injury.
“He was experiencing a little soreness when he joined us and aggravated things when he slipped in training,” said Saxons coach Jon Callard. “It’s nothing serious and he could play with it but it might not be in his best interests. He’s got a bright future but as he’s just come back from a different injury we didn’t want to compound his problems.”
London Wasps centre Waldouck, 24, toured New Zealand (2008) and Australia (2010) with the senior England side. He made his debut for the Saxons in 2009 against Portugal and this will be his seventh appearance for the side.
England Saxons: 15 Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby); 14 Ugo Monye (Harlequins), 13 Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), 12 Billy Twelvetrees (Leicester Tigers), 11 Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby); 10 Ryan Lamb (Northampton Saints), 9 Ben Spencer (Saracens); 1 Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby), 2 Chris Brooker (Harlequins), 3 Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints), 4 Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers), 5 George Robson (Harlequins), 6 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks, captain), 7 Andy Saull (Saracens), 8 Tom Johnson (Exeter).
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray (Harlequins), 17 Rupert Harden (Gloucester Rugby), 18 Kearnan Myall (Sale Sharks), 19 David Seymour (Sale Sharks), 20 Paul Hodgson (London Irish), 21 Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby), 22 Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors).
On another forum a member thought it the biggest defeat for the England second string ever. I can recall the Saxons losing 49-22 to Ireland in the Final of the 2009 Churchill Cup. However that was a smaller margin of defeat and England at least managed to score points...
The forwards were particularly dominated, at the breakdown & scrum. The lineout was apparently ok.
Given the advantage in resources England have over Scotland this kind of performance should be considered unacceptable.
Friday February 3, 2012
Issued by Simon Mills
Scotland A 35 England Saxons 0
England Saxons suffered a major setback when they went down to Scotland A at Galashiels and suffered only their second defeat in 20 games at this level in the process.
Duncan Weir led the way with a try, three conversions and three penalties in his 20-point haul, Duncan Hogg added a spectacular solo effort and Rob Harley and Matt Scott forced their way over late in the game.
The Saxons saw plenty of the ball in the Borders during the opening 40 minutes but never generated much in the way of momentum – James Gaskell and Ed Slater sin binned along the way – and paid the price for missing a handful of important tackles.
They had made eight changes to the side that won 23-17 against the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds including a debut for Leicester Tigers lock Slater with Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps) a late replacement for Jonathan Joseph (London Irish) in midfield.
Weir nudged Scotland in front with a fourth minute penalty but after a slow start the Saxons worked their way back into the game only for Hogg’s burst down the left to put them on the back foot.
The Glasgow full back’s 40 metre run and sidestep under the posts put the hosts 10-0 up after 17 minutes and the Saxons then lost skipper James Gaskell to the sin-bin two minutes before the break for a high tackle.
Weir’s second penalty sent them in 13-0 down and the Saxons made an instant change at fly half with Freddie Burns replacing Ryan Lamb and another shortly after with Kearnan Myall taking over from George Robson.
Any route back into the game was halted by Weir’s 52nd minute try as he shrugged off two sets of tackles to go under the posts, adding a conversion and a penalty five minutes later with Slater the second Saxon in the sin bin.
Harley forced his way over into the right-hand corner after a close-range scrum and Scott found a huge gap to accelerate through 12 minutes from time.
Friday February 3, 2012
Issued by Simon Mills
Reaction from tonight's 35-0 defeat against Scotland A at Galashiels.
England Saxons coach Jon Callard said: "It was a bad day at the office. There was plenty of desire and commitment but we never really generated much momentum and when we did make errors they were expensive ones.
"When you make a few mistakes and you're behind on the scoreboard maybe you try and force things a bit, try some individual things that don't come off and before you know it you're even further behind.
"The players have been great over the last two weeks and full of energy in beating the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds last weekend but credit to Scotland A for the way they played and the way they kept on coming at us.
"It's on nights like this that you get taught some lessons about yourself and this group is talented enough to learn from that and move on. They've been playing some good rugby for their clubs and for us and they'll all improve as a result."