South Africa 'A' slump to another defeat to visiting England Saxons

South Africa ‘A’ slumped to a second consecutive loss against the England Saxons when they were downed 29-26 in a cold George on Friday night.

The tourists‚ who won the first encounter 32-24 in Bloemfontein last week‚ rallied late in the match to win thanks to a 75th minute try from wing Christian Wade..

South Africa centre Lukhanyo Am was also red-carded late in the match for foul play in the build-up to Wade’s try.

SA ‘A’ made a fast start to the match and led 12-8 at the break thanks to tries from flank Jean-Luc du Preez and wing Sergeal Peterson while England enjoyed one rolling maul try from hooker Tommy Taylor.

SA ‘A flyhalf Francois Brummer missed three first half kicks and those misses would come back to haunt them.

After the break Peterson and centre Francois Venter added two more in the first five minutes of the half with Leolin Zas kicking one conversion.

But England rallied with a second try from Taylor followed by another score from Matt Kvesic to set up a grandstand finish.

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“I’m thrilled with the guys‚” Saxons captain Dave Attwood said. “After we didn’t start like we wanted to‚ we showed unbelievable character in the second half. We had to sledgehammer our way through.

“Tempo and pace is something we’ve tried to bring in on this tour‚ as well as expansive rugby and the intent to throw the ball around. But our set piece was also good and we got mileage out of our lineout drive with two tries for Tommy Taylor.

SA ‘A’ captain Oupa Mohoje‚ who left the field injured in the first half suggested that lack of composure in the final minutes cost his team.

“We started well but the Saxons fought back well‚” Mohoje said.

“Our plan was to put width on the ball and we put ourselves under pressure in the last 10 minutes of the game by not kicking out when we needed to.

“But games like this have been good for the development of players.”

Scorers:

South Africa 'A': Tries: Jean-Luc du Preez‚ Sergeal Petersen (2)‚ Francois Venter.Conversions: Francois Brummer (2)‚ Leolin Zas.

England Saxons: Tries: Tommy Taylor (2)‚ Matt Kvesic‚ Christian Wade. Conversions: Danny Cipriani (3). Penalty: Cipriani

- TMG Digital