Ireland A 49 England Saxons 22

Declan Kidney’s Ireland A side capped off a wonderful season for the Emerald Isle on Sunday by beating England Saxons 49-22 and claiming The 2009 Churchill Cup.

With Neil Best acting as captain, the Irish recovered from a slow start and two sin binnings in the first half to record a six-try win courtesy of an organized performance with good finishing.

Stephen Myler kicked the Saxons 6-0 ahead before Jonathan Sexton, making his first start in the tournament, got the Irish on the scoreboard through a penalty of his own.

The first try came through Devin Toner, Sean Cronin’s well-time pass setting up the move after a decent spell of dominance and Sexton duly converted.

Myler added another penalty to bring the Saxons back to within a point, and missed the chance to move his side ahead only for Ireland to collect their second try moments later.

It was all started by a break from Fergus McFadden, who drew a penalty with his run, which Chris Henry then took quickly and that allowed Tony Buckley and Isaac Boss to move forward, the latter diving over the tryline. Sexton converted, though Myler added another kick to leave to scores on 17-12.

Both teams lost players to the sin bin six minutes before the break when Saxons’ Dan Cole was shown yellow, while Ireland number eight followed him to the sideline for his part in a skirmish with Stuart Hooper.

A penalty, initially awarded to Ireland A, was reversed, though the men in green turned over possession, allowing Sexton to land the drop kick.

The fly-half followed Henry to the sin bin a minute before the break though, penalized for slowing England ball at the ruck. Myler missed the resulting penalty though, leaving scores at 20-12 at the interval.

Down to 13, McFadden stood in at ten and it was Cronin, with the help of Boss, who crossed over after handing off both Hooper and Tom Varndell. McFadden added the extras.

The Saxons used their advantage at the scrum to help them hit back, however, and went for territory instead of a kick at the posts -which saw flanker Ben Woods power over in the corner.

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Nster.com