Lancaster proud despite defeat

Baa-baas defeat was good experience says Saxons boss

Last updated: 29th May 2011   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Lancaster proud despite defeat

Lancaster says he was proud of his young side's performance

I was proud of our performance in terms of the inexperience of our side in relation to theirs... I guess at the end their experience and quality told.

Stuart Lancaster
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England's 38-32 defeat to the Barbarians on Sunday was a 'valuable experience' according to Saxons coach Stuart Lancaster.

A shadow England team let slip a 17-point lead at Twickenham as the Baa-Baas sealed the victory with a last-minute try by Tim Visser.

Lancaster, however, said he was proud of the young side against a much more experienced Barbarians outfit.

"I was proud of our performance in terms of the inexperience of our side in relation to theirs," he said.

"We put ourselves in a position at 32-31 where we could have won it. I guess at the end their experience and quality told.

"As a lead into the Churchill Cup and for players to get the experience of playing at Twickenham and benchmark themselves against World Cup players, it is valuable."

Lancaster also said that a number of players had picked up injuries during the match.

Massive opportunity

"Ugo has got an MCL (medial collateral ligament) strain," he continued. "He will be assessed in the morning.

"Matt Banahan has a soft tissue injury. (Joe) Marler has a mild concussion. It wasn't spinal. That is the protocol to get him off field."

Captain Luke Narraway, who played a part in the tries scored by Trinder and Simpson-Daniel, said he hoped his performance had grabbed the attention of senior coach Martin Johnson.

"I tried to play to the best of my ability," he said. "If it is enough to make the World Cup training squad I'll be happy.

"This was a massive, massive opportunity because some of those guys were going out there for the first time against world class opposition."

England name the Saxons squad for the Churchill Cup on Monday and it is set to include a return for Saracens prop Matt Stevens.

Jordan Crane and Andy Saull will be assessed after sustaining injuries in the Aviva Premiership but Banahan and Charlie Hodgson have been told to rest ahead of the World Cup build-up.

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