Scotland A Denied By Saxons

Barclays Churchill Cup Final Scotland A 19 – 36 England Saxons The Scotland ‘A’ team finished second in the Barclays Churchill Cup tonight as they went down 19-36 in the Cup final against England Saxons at Toyota Park in Chicago. In spite of playing some sparkling rugby during tonight’s final, Scotland A’ lost out to reining champions England Saxons who lifted their fourth Cup title in six years.Barclays Churchill Cup Final Scotland ‘A’ 19, England Saxons 36 The Scotland A’ team finished second in the Barclays Churchill Cup tonight as they went down 19-36 in the Cup final against England Saxons at Toyota Park in Chicago. Scotland’s Churchill Cup campaign began three weeks ago when they recorded a 26-10 victory over co-host nation Canada in Ottawa, a win that saw a hat-trick of tries from fullback Steve Jones. The A’ team then had four days to travel to Kingston, Ontario, where they faced a hardy Argentina Pumas side. Another bonus point victory saw Scotland A’ top Pool A with maximum points (10). In spite of playing some sparkling rugby during tonight’s final, Scotland A’ lost out to reining champions England Saxons who lifted their fourth Cup title in six years. The Scots led in both halves but unforced errors which resulted in turnovers enabled the Saxons to score two of their three second-half tries and retain the silverware. Scotland A’ made a sprightly start and from Dan Turner at the lineout, Rob Dewey and Mark Robertson both stretched the England defence before Gordon Ross’s snap drop-goal gave the Scots a ninth minute lead. From the restart the Scots were penalised for going to deck and Ryan Lamb levelled, but, almost at once, Ollie Smith obstructed Calum MacRae in open play, and Ross’s penalty regained the lead for Scotland A’. The game continued to ebb and flow, Lamb equalising in the 17th minute with his second penalty as the prelude to the Saxons taking the lead. Smith’s transfer was the key and Anthony Allan’s inside pass saw Matt Banahan storm off his wing for a try. Lamb converted, so Scotland A’ trailed 6-13. Scotland A’ almost pulled back a try before the break. Alan MacDonald took ball at the lineout tail and released Roland Reid, Dewey supported and Robertson was denied at the opposite flag by a fine cover tackle from Lamb. Referee Simon McDowell had been playing an offside advantage and Ross duly slotted the penalty but in first-half stoppage time that penalty was cancelled out by a third such effort from Lamb. There was still time remaining for MacRae, who had looked dangerous on the break in the opening period, to find a hole again in the midfield, but the timing of his pass saw Dewey fumble and the chance went a begging. Half-time score: Scotland A 9 – 16 England Saxons Scotland A’ grabbed their first try of the final within three minutes of the restart. MacDonald’s resilience set up the chance and Dewey powered through two tackles before feeding left to Colin Gregor who had enough gas to reach the try line before the desperately retreating Ugo Moyne. Ross’s conversion brought Scotland A’ back to 16-all. Four minutes later Ross landed his third penalty and Scotland A edged ahead again at 19-16. At the other end, MacRae had to make a saving tackle on the giant Banahan but Scotland A were penalised and Lamb goaled for 19-all. A mis-firing Scotland A’ lineout saw Saxons win possession within five metres of the Scots’ line and Nick Abendanon crossed for their second try as the defensive line lost its shape. Lamb converted. Scotland A’ tried to raise their game and with ten minutes remaining Andrew Turnbull almost conjured an opening after a sustained period of pressure. However tries from Jordan Crane and Ugo Moyne in the closing eight minutes saw the Saxons home. After the game, Scotland A’ team head coach, Rob Moffat said: We were probably seen as underdogs going into this game but we came here to win the Churchill Cup. The boys trained very well over the three weeks and performed well at times. We just weren’t good enough on the day. There were two or three good chances today and we just didn’t take them. Throughout the tour, we have played the type of rugby that we wanted to play and I’m proud of the players for achieving that. Scotland ASteve Jones (Newcastle Falcons); Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Rob Dewey (Ulster), Calum MacRae (Edinburgh), Roland Reid (Edinburgh); Gordon Ross (Saracens), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors); Ed Kalman (Glasgow Warriors), Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN, David Young (Leicester Tigers), Fergus Pringle (Edinburgh), Dan Turner (Glasgow Warriors), James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh), Stevie Swindall (Glasgow Warriors) SubstitutesScott Newlands (Edinburgh) for Pringle (40 mins), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh) for Robertson (47 mins), Tommy McGee (Leeds Carnegie) for Young (53 mins) for Kalman (69 mins), Andrew Kelly (Edinburgh) for Thomson (57 mins), Andy Miller (Exeter Chiefs) for Swindall (60 mins), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh) for Reid (65 mins), Mark McMillan (Wasps) for Jones (73 mins)   England SaxonsNick Abendanon (Bath Rugby); Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers), Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby); Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby), Paul Hodgson (London Irish); Alex Clarke (Bristol Rugby), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby), Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), George Skivington (London Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Will Skinner (Harlequins, captain), Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers) SubstitutesAndy Titterrell (Gloucester Rugby), Tom French (London Wasps), Stuart Hooper (Leeds Carnegie), Steffon Armitage (London Irish), Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons), Adrian Jarvis (Harlequins), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks) Referee: Simon McDowell (IRFU)