Saints U18s demolish England U18 AER @ Solihull - 24 Feb 08

Saints Under-18s demolish England counterparts at SolihullThe Saints Academy had a good afternoon at Solihull RFC, running eight tries past England Under-18 in a 50-24 victory. Centre Nick Greenhalgh and wing Anders Mogensen led the way with a brace each and Jon Vickers, Ollie Storey, Owen Giles and Adam Martin all crossed the line as well. Daryl Veenendaal and Tom Jones shared the five conversions. Despite playing into a breeze in the first half the JSA started controlling the game from the kick off by running the ball at every opportunity. The first try was scored by Nick Greenhalgh after a powerful break. The second try came after excellent ball retention and Owen Giles crashed over from close range. With 20 minutes gone Greenhalgh added a second from another strong carry to open up a 19-0 lead. The physicality shown from the JSA pack was allowing the half backs Darryl Veenendaal and Tom Jones to control the match with some excellent decision making and release the outside backs. Jon Vickers, playing his first game at hooker hit every lineout and the scrum was providing a solid platform for number eight James Ingle to make good ground.England hit back with a couple of tries of their own to close the gap to 19-14, (despite the linesman clearly indicating a forward pass for a try). Saints went straight back on the attack and scored two more tries before the break from Vickers and Ollie Storey to take the score to 31-14. The latter came from a quick tap penalty on the half way when six players linked up for a well taken team try.The second half was a scrappy affair with the Saints side not able to convert the chances they created. Prop Alex Waller made several charges in the match and was unlucky to have a try disallowed for an earlier infringement. The forwards worked extremely well attacking around the fringes off slow ball creating space for the backs to exploit. Three tries from were added from the Saints back three as the England side tired from the relentless attacks with Anders Mogensen grabbing a brace and Adam Martin crossing the line.England grabbed a consolation try at the death to make the final score 50-24 to the Saints.Northampton Saints -- 15 Adam Martin; 14 Corey Rainbow; 13 Nick Greenhalgh; 12 Ollie Storey; 11 Anders Mogensen; 10 Tom Jones; 9 Darryl Veenandaal; 8 James Ingle; 7 Liam Neale; 6 Owen Giles; 5 James Cannon (Capt); 4 Jack Sharp; 3 Alex Waller; 2 Jon Vickers; 1 Rupert Freestone16 Kenny Jones; 17 Alex Roper; 18 Jordan Wood; 19 Sam Hodgson; 20 Harry Peck; 21 Guy Michels; 22 Josh Clark Match report by Grant SeelySaints Academy Coach"We were blown out of the water in the first 20 minutes by the pace of the game," he said. "It was considerably faster than they were used to and I think it made them realise that there is a big step up from school rugby to the higher level and an even bigger step up to international level which can be very fast and frenetic. There were a few shocked faces in our side after that first 20 minutes against Northampton but it was an ideal challenge for us. It will ensure that their feet are kept firmly on the ground and they now understand that just pulling on a shirt with an English rose on it does not mean that they are guaranteed to get a result. We ended up losing by eight tries to four against Northampton so we did show character in coming back from conceding three tries in that first 20 minutes." RFU news 26 Feb 08

Channel: Sports
Uploaded: January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am
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Tags: Academy  AER  Afrikaners  Darryl  England  Northampton  Rugby  Saints  U18  Veenendaal  

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