Ben Kay was used as a second-half replacement during England’s 37-20 defeat at the hands of New Zealand in Auckland, with fellow Tigers tourists Tom Croft and Tom Varndell now hoping to make the matchday 22 for next Saturday’s second Test in Christchurch.
There was more success for an England Saxons side featuring four Tigers, as they reached the final of the Churchill Cup competition in North America. George Chuter, Jordan Crane and Ollie Smith all started Saturday’s win over Ireland A, while Richard Blaze joined the action after 57 minutes.
Chuter skippered England’s second string to a 34-12 victory over an Ireland A 22 that included Tigers No9 Frank Murphy. The win means the Saxons will now meet Scotland A in Chicago next Saturday as they continue the defence of the title they won against the New Zealand Maori at Twickenham last year.
That Scotland A side could well feature Tigers prop Dave Young who started the 27-24 win over Argentina Pumas, for whom fly-half Ignacio Mieres was named in the starting XV.
Elsewhere, Geordan Murphy made his 58th international appearance after coming off the bench with just under an hour played in Ireland’s 18-12 defeat to Australia in Melbourne.
Marcos Ayerza also suffered defeat as his Argentina side lost 26-14 to Scotland in Buenos Aires. Ayerza played the full 80 minutes, although he was unable to prevent the Scots from levelling the two-Test series at one-a-piece.
In the IRB Junior World Championships in Wales, second row Gregor Gillanders and scrum-half Ben Youngs both helped England U-20 reach the semi-final stages of the tournament. Gillanders played the full 80 minutes against Australia, while Youngs came on with six minutes remaining – enough time to see Worcester’s Miles Benjamin grab the match-winning score. England will now face South Africa in the last four at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday (kick off 9.10pm), while Wales take on New Zealand in the other semi to be played at Rodney Parade at 7pm on the same day.
