England Saxons
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| England Saxons | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Union | Rugby Football Union | |||||||||||||||||
| Coach |  Steve Bates |
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England Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A. The Saxons play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to show that they have the ability to perform at Test level for the England first team.
England Saxons is one of three sides that regularly compete in the annual Churchill Cup competition, the others being the full national teams of Canada and the United States. Since 2006, they have also played two matches, against Ireland A and Italy A, in parallel with the full Six Nations Championship.
The Saxons are currently coached on a part-time basis by Steve Bates, Coaching and Technical Director of Newcastle Falcons, assisted by the Rugby Football Union’s National Academy coaches, Graham Rowntree and Simon Hardy.
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[edit] Concept
England's second team was known as England B until 1992, when it was renamed as England A. In 2000, as part of its long-term strategic plan, the RFU re-examined the role of the 'second team' and decided that a change of name was desirable. Several names were considered – e.g. England Aces and England Bloods – before the name England Saxons was chosen from a short-list of possibles. The change of name took effect from mid-May 2006, just before the start of that year's Churchill Cup.
The Saxons are seen as an integral part of the RFU's development process: [1]
"England Saxons is a key part of the development pathway to the senior side ...
The future success of rugby in England depends, to a large extent, on the next best 15 players.
The England Saxons will give up and coming players a platform to perform in an international environment and to show that they can make the step up when required."
—Andy Robinson (England head coach), 18 May 2006
England Saxons games do not count as full internationals as players are not capped.
[edit] Participation in international competition
England A / Saxons have participated in the Churchill Cup since its inception in 2003. Under the current format, they play three games, two at the pool stage and one on finals day. The Saxons also play two matches each season against teams from the other Six Nations countries (France, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Wales), the games being played on the same weekends as Six Nations Championship matches. Since 2006, the Saxons' opponents in these games have been Ireland A and Italy A.
[edit] England Saxons 2008 squads
On 4 January 2008, the training squad was named for the 2008 'shadow' Six Nations competition.[2] Injuries and senior team call-ups forced the squad to be revised before the first game of the season, against Ireland A.[3] Further senior team call-ups followed the first game of the 2008 Six Nations Championship, resulting in more changes to the Saxons squad. The revised squad for the game against Italy A in Ragusa, Sicily was:[4]
In May 2008, the squad was announced for the 2008 Churchill Cup competition [5].
[edit] Coaches
The following table shows the coaching staff for the 2008 'shadow' Six Nations.
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[edit] References
- ^ England A becomes England Saxons. England Rugby (2006-05-18).
- ^ England Saxons squad announcement. England Rugby (2008-01-09).
- ^ England Saxons squad for Ireland A match. England Rugby (2008-01-23).
- ^ England Saxons training squad for Italy A. England Rugby (2008-02-04).
- ^ England Squad for 2008 Churchill Cup. England Rugby (2008-06-09).
[edit] External links
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