England Saxons get Ireland A revenge in Bath

A first half try from David Strettle (Harlequins) got the Saxons on the scoreboard with Shane Geraghty (Northampton) adding his own effort just before half time and contributing seven points with the boot.

England errors kept Ireland in the game during the first half with Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) kicking two easy penalties.

Strettle’s try eased the pressure after he received an outside pass from Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) to go over in the top corner for Geraghty to convert.

And on the half hour England’s Geraghty went in under the posts after secure offloads from Saracens pair Noah Cato and Brad Barritt.

Worrying moments for England before the break after Ireland were awarded another penalty but Wallace went wide at the posts. To take the half time score to 14-6.

Early pressure from Ireland A paid off in the second half with Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby) being sent to the sin bin for being off his feet at the ruck and with England down to 14 men, replacement Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster) went over, Wallace added the extras to take them within a point, 14-13.

A further nail biting 15 minutes followed with Geraghty missing a penalty but England’s defence held strong and they were awarded on the buzzer with another penalty, this time Geraghty didn’t miss.

Lancaster said, “The opportunities we had, particularly in the first half we took and our second half defence was outstanding. We worked hard for each other and the shirt.

“Saxons is about building experience for these players at international level. Ireland took the game seriously and so did we and it was nice to turn the tables from our previous performance.”