Jones masterclass helps Ireland A trounce Saxons to claim first title

FELIX JONES gave a virtuoso performance than suggested Leinster’s loss may be Munster’s gain as Ireland A produced a shock maiden Churchill Cup victory in some style last night.

The livewire full-back, who is seeking new opportunities down south next season, lit up Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado as Declan Kidney’s side capped a wonderful season for Irish rugby with a ruthless performance laced with class.

The Saxons were favourites and were to claim third Churchill Cup in a row, and were protecting an unbeaten run stretching back to June 2006. But little went their way in the face of an intense Irish effort.

Niall Ronan and skipper for the day Neil Best ruled the breakdown, while Jones offered spark, pace and safe hands amid an aerial bombardment, scoring one try and creating a stunning other on the way to claiming the official man-of-the-match gong.

“We knew we had to apply pressure in the right areas, and we did that,” explained Jones.

“Before the tournament we set out to improve with every match, and I think we learned from the first two games. We were preparing ourselves for a close game but we just seemed to click.”

Ireland made few forays into the Saxons’ 22 in the first half, but each visit yielded rich dividends.

An early penalty exchange between Johnny Sexton and Stephen Myler that left the Saxons 6-3 to the good, before Devin Toner ploughed through Myler on 14 minutes for the game’s opening try.

Myler – whose 21 points and the man-of-the-match gong in the Saxons’ 56-17 dismissal of the USA were enough to see him selected at out-half ahead of Danny Cipriani – dusted himself down to boot another penalty, but when Ireland came again on 24 minutes, they did so in style.

Keith Matthews displayed some sublime footwork to shred the Saxons’ midfield, and Ireland recycled hard and fast before scrum-half Isaac Boss darted through the fringe cover to score.

A flurry of sin-binnings marred the end of the first half, with Ireland’s Sexton and Chris Henry and Saxons prop Dan Cole all seeing yellow as referee Matt Goddard showed little lenience.

Ireland led 20-12 at the break, an advantage they stretched within seconds of the resumption as the Saxons went to sleep, allowing Toner to collect the kick-off.

Boss set Sean Cronin free, and the hooker displayed the pace and footwork of a centre, leaving three players for dead on a devastating surge to the line.

The Saxons hit back when flanker Ben Woods got over in the corner, but it was a mere bump on Ireland’s road to victory. Poor blindside defence from the Saxons allowed Jones to stroll home from 40 metres, before the full-back setup the try of the day.

Plucking yet another high ball out of the air under pressure from Dominic Wauldock, he showed the cover a clean pair of heels.

Jones then fixed Saxons full-back Nick Abendanon before produced a sumptuous offload to McFadden, and found Johne Murphy on his inside to finish the job.

Replacement John Muldoon ploughed over for Ireland A’s sixth, before wing Tom Varndell bagged a late consolation for the Saxons.

Scorers for Ireland A: D Toner, I Boss, S Cronin, F Jones, J Murphy, J Muldoon try each; J Sexton 2 pens, 3 cons, drp gl; F McFadden 2 cons.

Scorers for England Saxons: B Woods try; S Myler 4 pens.

IRELAND A: F Jones; D Hurley, F McFadden, K Matthews, J Murphy; J Sexton, I Boss; C Healy, S Cronin, T Buckley; D Ryan, D Toner; N Best (capt), N Ronan, C Henry.

Replacements: N O’Connor for Henry (43), J Muldoon for O’Connor (51), D Fogarty for Cronin (63), S Keogh for Boss (76), J Downey for McFadden (78), T Hogan for Ryan (79).

ENGLAND SAXONS: N Abendanon; N Cato, D Waldouck, B Barritt, T Varndell; S Myler, M Young (Newcastle); D Flatman, R Webber, D Cole; S Hooper, N Kennedy; P Dowson (capt), B Woods, L Narraway.

Replacements: T Mercey for Cole (58), T Guest for Narraway, D Cipriani for Myler, S Geraghty for Barritt (62), J Simpson for Young (69), J Ward for Flatman (75).

Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)