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Rugby Union

Saxons land Churchill Cup honours

02/06/2007

England Saxons have lifted the Churchill Cup after a closely-fought 17-13 win against the New Zealand Maoris at Twickenham.

On a day that the senior side were being comprehensively thumped by the Springboks in Pretoria, England's second-string showed tremendous resilience to wrestle the trophy from last year's winners with a timely try.

The match was destined to be a tight affair from the first whistle as both sides sought to impose their physical power on the other.

Wasps winger Paul Sackey drew first blood as he rounded off a slick backs' move sparked by an over-throw in the line-out.

Tamati Ellison's wayward kicking cost the visitors a chance to get back in the game as a pair of penalty attempts floated well wide.

But captain Rua Tipoki was a constant danger for the Maoris and his scything break opened up space for Anthony Tahana to cross and reduce the gap to 7-5 at the break.

A second Wasps player, Tom Voyce, scored early in the second half, but Jim Mallinder's men found themselves pegged back once more as centre Jason Kawau slipped through a gap to take his side into a 13-12 lead on 57 minutes.

The see-sawing contest kept the crowd guessing right until the final five minutes when the Maoris were caught out by a sweeping Saxons phase that finished with replacement second row Tom Croft crashing over on the right wing.

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