England Saxons Team for Churchill Cup Final
By Kath June 19 2008
England Saxon Team for Barclays Churchill Cup Final The Barclays Churchill Cup final takes place on Saturday, June 21, at Toyota Park, Chicago, kick off 2.05pm local time (8.05pm UK time) and is being televised live on Sky Sports 2. We wish the Saxons the best of luck.
England Saxon Team for Barclays Churchill Cup Final The Barclays Churchill Cup final takes place on Saturday, June 21, at Toyota Park, Chicago, kick off 2.05pm local time (8.05pm UK time) and is being televised live on Sky Sports 2. We wish the Saxons the best of luck.
England Saxons Team for Churchill Cup Final
Churchill Cup
Will Skinner hopes to lead England Saxons to a second successive Barclays Churchill Cup victory against Scotland A in Chicago on Saturday.After sitting out of last week’s victory over Ireland A, the Harlequins flanker returns to lead the side in one of four changes.
Will Skinner Captain
But head coach Steve Bates has chosen to leave intact the back line that carved up the Irish, scoring an impressive five tries, including two for tournament top try scorer Matt Banahan (five) and one for man of the match Nick Abendanon.
“Our last two matches have been played in contrasting styles,” said Bates, “but we’ve turned in two good team performances. “Against the USA we broke them down consistently, whereas the Irish were much more physical.
Having coached Scottish side Borders for two years and led Scotland A to victory over England in this tournament two years ago, Bates is well aware of the challenges his team will face in their quest to retain the trophy. “I know what the Scots are capable of,” he said.
“They will pose some significant threats that we need to be aware of, especially the likes of Rob Dewey. We mustn’t give them a chance to get their heads in front.”
With Chris Jones at lock and Jordan Crane returning to his favoured Number 8 position, Harlequins’ Chris Robshaw earns his first Saxons start as he lines up in the back row alongside club team mate Skinner. After making some tough selection decisions, forwards coaches Simon Hardy and Toby Booth believe they’ve got the balance right for this game.
“Chris Robshaw will bring a huge amount of physicality to the contact area,” said Hardy. “We know how important this will be against the Scots, this is his opportunity to get out there and do what he’s good at.” Booth added, “Both our sevens (Steff Armitage and Will Skinner) contributed well in the first two matches. Will got the nod to start but we expect Steff to make a major impact later on in the game.”
With Newcastle Falcons prop David Wilson called up by the senior squad, Gloucester prop Jack Forster celebrates his 21st birthday today by earning his first start for the Saxons, this time on his favoured tight-head side. Forster’s elevation makes room on the bench for Wasps prop Tom French and with Harlequins Number 8 Tom Guest not considered due to a rib injury, Leeds lock Stuart Hooper also joins the replacements.
The Barclays Churchill Cup final takes place on Saturday, June 21, at Toyota Park, Chicago, kick off 2.05pm local time (8.05pm UK time) and is being televised live on Sky Sports 2.
It will be preceded at 11.45am by the Plate Final between Argentina A and Ireland A to determine the third and fourth spots. At 4.25pm, the USA and Canada will contest the Bowl Final which, as well as being a fully sanctioned Test match for IRB ranking points, will determine who finishes the tournament in fifth and six place.
England Saxons team to play Scotland A
Barclays Churchill Cup final
15. Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)*
14. Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
13. Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers)*
12. Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby)*
11. Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
10. Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby)
9. Paul Hodgson (London Irish)*
1. Alex Clarke (Bristol Rugby)
2. George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)*
3. Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby)
4. Chris Jones (Sale Sharks)*
5. George Skivington (London Wasps)
6. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
7. Will Skinner (Harlequins, captain)
8. Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Replacements
16. Andy Titterrell (Gloucester Rugby)*
17. Tom French (London Wasps)
18. Stuart Hooper (Leeds Carnegie)
19. Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
20. Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons)
21. Adrian Jarvis (Harlequins)
22. Ben Foden (Sale Sharks)
* Denotes capped player
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| 20 Jun, 2008 08:06 | Report |
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Registered User |
Date Joined: Sep, 2003 Location: Posts: 4768 |
Re: England Saxons Team for Churchill Cup Final
Saxons unleash Banahan in bid for glory
Matt Banahan could be the answer to England Saxons’ prayers this weekend as they take on Scotland A in Chicago’s Barclays Churchill Cup final.
Not content with finishing the season as the Guinness Premiership’s second highest try scorer with 10 tries the giant Bath wing is determined to go one better on Saturday.
And with five tries against two games against the USA and Ireland A, Banahan is already the tournament’s top try scorer. But that will count for nothing if he can’t help the team to beat the Scots and retain the title in Saturday’s showdown.
“Just being a part of this squad has been awesome,” said Banahan. “When I came out here I was just hoping to be involved. But now we’re in the final, nothing less than a win will be good enough. I just want to do whatever I can to help the get that all important win.”
After playing both their pool matches in Canada, Banahan is looking forward to playing on US soil, in the hope that it will prove as fertile for him as it did for his older brother Paul (25).
“It was always my brother’s dream to be a musician. And it was America that made his dream come true,” said Banahan.
Having been a drummer in a Jersey punk oufit called Bothered Face, Paul and the band travelled to America in the hope of making it big.
“On their first day in America they were in a fast food restaurant and bumped into Eric from the well known American skar band called Sublime.
“They gave him their demo tape and he invited them to tour the West coast with him as their warm up act. My brother even performed with them when their drummer was ill.
“They ended up playing the final gig in Los Angeles. It was like a fairy tale ending for him.”
And while Paul’s story is proving an inspiration for Matt, it seems Matt’s success has lured his brother off the stage and back on to the pitch.
“Seeing me play seems to have inspired Paul to get back into rugby. We’ve done some training together this year and now he’s moving up north to play with Waterloo next season. I can’t wait to see him play.
“I know he’ll be watching the game on Saturday, hopefully we’ll give him something to be proud of.”
Matt Banahan could be the answer to England Saxons’ prayers this weekend as they take on Scotland A in Chicago’s Barclays Churchill Cup final.
Not content with finishing the season as the Guinness Premiership’s second highest try scorer with 10 tries the giant Bath wing is determined to go one better on Saturday.
And with five tries against two games against the USA and Ireland A, Banahan is already the tournament’s top try scorer. But that will count for nothing if he can’t help the team to beat the Scots and retain the title in Saturday’s showdown.
“Just being a part of this squad has been awesome,” said Banahan. “When I came out here I was just hoping to be involved. But now we’re in the final, nothing less than a win will be good enough. I just want to do whatever I can to help the get that all important win.”
After playing both their pool matches in Canada, Banahan is looking forward to playing on US soil, in the hope that it will prove as fertile for him as it did for his older brother Paul (25).
“It was always my brother’s dream to be a musician. And it was America that made his dream come true,” said Banahan.
Having been a drummer in a Jersey punk oufit called Bothered Face, Paul and the band travelled to America in the hope of making it big.
“On their first day in America they were in a fast food restaurant and bumped into Eric from the well known American skar band called Sublime.
“They gave him their demo tape and he invited them to tour the West coast with him as their warm up act. My brother even performed with them when their drummer was ill.
“They ended up playing the final gig in Los Angeles. It was like a fairy tale ending for him.”
And while Paul’s story is proving an inspiration for Matt, it seems Matt’s success has lured his brother off the stage and back on to the pitch.
“Seeing me play seems to have inspired Paul to get back into rugby. We’ve done some training together this year and now he’s moving up north to play with Waterloo next season. I can’t wait to see him play.
“I know he’ll be watching the game on Saturday, hopefully we’ll give him something to be proud of.”
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| 20 Jun, 2008 08:35 | Report |
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| 20 Jun, 2008 10:30 | Report |
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| 20 Jun, 2008 11:38 | Report |
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Battering Ram Winger (IP Logged) Registered User |
Date Joined: Apr, 2007 Location: Posts: 2875 |
Re: England Saxons Team for Churchill Cup Final
I think Haskell's long term future is at 8.
Robshaw's tackling is immense - he made 25 more than his nearest rival in the GP last season (Haskell 198 - and his nearest non-international competitor was Pat Sanderson on 191, with Skinner next on 186!) - and is nowhere to be seen on the "missed tackles" chart. Rather worryingly, the only forward who is James Haskell, who's second, but, you've got to buy a ticket!
Robshaw's tackling is immense - he made 25 more than his nearest rival in the GP last season (Haskell 198 - and his nearest non-international competitor was Pat Sanderson on 191, with Skinner next on 186!) - and is nowhere to be seen on the "missed tackles" chart. Rather worryingly, the only forward who is James Haskell, who's second, but, you've got to buy a ticket!
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