Ireland ‘A’ defeated the England Saxons 49-22 in Sunday night’s Churchill Cup final in Colorado with a number of Leinster stars to the fore…
Leinster star Jonathan Sexton, who was yellow-carded on the stroke of half-time, enjoyed an excellent half with the St. Mary’s man kicking 10 points including a superbly executed drop goal in the 36th minute.
Devin Toner crashed over from close in after 15 minutes after some excellent forward work. Sexton added the points and was on hand to capitalise again on Isaac Boss’ try 10 minutes later, while Stephen Myler replied with four first half penalties for England.
In the 41st minute Connacht hooker Sean Cronin raced clear to score after Toner expertly took the Fergus McFadden restart to give Ireland a 27-12 lead, with McFadden adding the conversion.
With temperatures soaring over the 40 degree mark the Saxons bounced back with Ben Woods scoring in the corner four minutes later, but on 56 minutes Felix Jones made a stunning blindside break to touch down after being fed by lively scrum-half Boss. Sexton’s conversion drifted wide.
Moments later Seapoint full-back Jones turned provider as he broke and found McFadden who waited patiently for a delicate pass to the onrushing Johne Murphy who scored. McFadden then added the points to give Ireland a commanding 22 point advantage before kicking a 65th minute penalty as Ireland turned the screw. In the 75th minute he added the points to Connacht’s John Muldoon try when he powered over from close range.
Tom Varndell added a late consolation try for England in the last minute, but Ireland rejoiced on another memorable chapter in what has been an oustanding season.
*Leinster’s Fergus McFadden was named the Churchill Cup M.V.P. after a string of outstanding displays for Ireland ‘A’ during the course of the tournament.
IRELAND SCORERS: D.Toner / I. Boss / S. Cronin / J. Murphy / F. Jones / J. Muldoon (1 try each), J. Sexton (1 penalty, 1 drop goal, 2 conversions), F. McFadden (1 penalty, 3 conversions)
IRELAND ‘A’:
15: Felix Jones (Seapoint/Leinster)
14: Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
13: Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster)
12: Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht)
11: Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers)
10: Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9: Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
1: Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2: Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
3: Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
4: Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
5: Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
6: Neil Best (Northampton Saints) CAPTAIN
7: Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)
8: Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)
REPLACEMENTS:
16: Denis Fogarty (Cork Constitution/Munster)
17: Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster)
18: Trevor Hogan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19: John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
20: Simon Keogh (OId Belvedere/Leinster)
21: Niall O’Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
22: James Downey (Northampton Saints)
