Ireland 'A' add to English misery
Irish clinch the Churchill Cup plate with last-gasp try
Ireland 'A' snatched the Churchill Cup plate and a worthy third-place finish in the tournament with a dramatic injury-time 30-27 victory over England Saxons in Edmonton on Saturday - a result that piles more misery on English rugby.
The Saxons had taken a last-minute lead through Saracens centre Ben Johnston but then lost David Barnes and Andy Beattie to the sin-bin as Ireland 'A' piled on the pressure in search of a response.
And against 13 men it came from Leinster prop Ronnie McCormack, who was driven over the English line six minutes into added time.
As referee Peter Allan awarded the score, England's replacement hooker David Paice was trading blows with Trevor Hogan and became the third Saxons players to be yellow carded.
Barnes and Beattie were both sin-binned for collapsing Ireland's dominant driving mauls and that eventually proved decisive in an attritional, physical encounter.
England's line-out malfunctioned badly as James Buckland struggled to find his jumpers and the Saxons were putting no real pressure on the Irish set piece.
But England held in there and took a 17-13 lead into the interval after the game had opened in the 10 minutes of first-half injury-time caused by Connacht prop Rat Hogan suffering a suspected broken leg.
Ireland should have moved into an early lead after a sharp break from Ulster fly-half Paddy Wallace but his long pass was just too far ahead of unmarked winger Andrew Maxwell.
England were on the receiving end at the breakdown too but it earned them an early lead after Irish captain Shane Jennings had been warned for stamping on Saxons' Kai Horstmann.
Ireland went close through Ulster lock Matt McCullough after powerful number eight Jamie Heaslip had charged 30 yards through Clive Stuart-Smith's tackle.
The Irish then lost Hogan after his right leg was caught awkwardly in a tackle but moved ahead with two penalties from Wallace as England suffered under pressure at the breakdown.
Ireland shot themselves in the foot as Ayoola Erinle charged down an attempted clearance from full-back Bryn Cunningham.
England made hard work of the try but Horstmann dived over in the corner after bounce-passes from Erinle and then Delon Armitage.
The Irish hit back immediately as John Hearty ran an excellent angle onto Wallace's pass and Heaslip barged over in the first minute of added time.
But there was still time for England to regain the advantage and Erinle picked up Dave Walder's clever grubber kick and powered through Cunningham to score.
England extended their lead to 22-13 after the interval when Sam Vesty used Erinle as the decoy to straighten past Hearty and Wallace to score.
The Irish refused to concede defeat as England struggled with injuries. Seymour was replaced with a neck injury and head coach Jon Callard emptied his bench as the game went to uncontested scrums.
McCullough was driven over to reduce England's advantage and after David Barnes was sin-binned for collapsing a powerful driving maul the Irish took a 23-22 lead through hooker John Fogarty.
England pressed Ireland back as the game entered injury time. They mixed up their options, trying the cross kick for Horstmann and the chip forward for Armitage.
Neither worked but a stolen lineout in the Irish 22 and slice of luck after Vesty's grubber deflected off Mossie Lawlor and Johnston held on to score.
But England's inability to defend the driving maul proved costly as McCormack sealed the win for Ireland.
The scorers:
For Ireland 'A':
Tries: Heaslip, McCullough, Fogarty, McCormack
Cons: Wallace 2
Pens: Wallace 2
For England Saxons:
Tries: Horstmann, Erinle, Vesty, Johnston
Con: Walder 2
Pens: Walder
The teams:
England Saxons: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Ben Johnston, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Ayoola Erinle, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Clive Stuart-Smith, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 David Seymour, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Nick Kennedy, 4 James Hudson, 3 Stuart Turner, 2 James Buckland, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Mickey Ward, 18 Andy Beattie, 19 Luke Narraway, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Michael Horak, 22 Ben Woods.
Ireland 'A': 15 Bryn Cunningham, 14 Andrew Maxwell, 13 John Hearty, 12 David Quinlan, 11 Conor McPhillips, 10 Paddy Wallace, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Neil McMilan, 6 Shane Jennings (captain), 5 Matt McCullough, 4 Trevor Hogan, 3 Tom Court, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Ray Hogan.
Replacements: 16 Brian Blaney, 17 Ronan McCormack, 18 Damien Browne, 19 John Muldoon, 20 Chris Keane, 21 Eoghan Hickey, 22 Mossie Lawlor.