England Saxons overcame a disjointed first-half performance to ultimately overpower Ireland A, winning 31-13 at Welford Road.
England Saxons 31 - 13 Ireland A, Welford Road
England Saxons overcame a disjointed first-half performance to ultimately overpower Ireland A, recording a 31-13 victory at Welford Road in Steve Bates' first match in charge.
England trailed 10-8 at the break having initially struggled to find any rhythm against an experienced Irish outfit.
However, with Shane Geraghty pulling the strings after the interval, they ran in three tries - Tom Varndell claiming two on his home patch - to emerge worthy winners.
Andrew Dunne and Ryan Lamb exchanged early penalties, but that was Lamb's only significant contribution as he was forced off on the quarter hour mark having taken a heavy knock on his shoulder.
He sustained the injury in the run-up to the move that saw England score their opening try with hooker David Paice eventually crashing over from close range after several phases near the Irish line.
However, the men in green ensured they went in ahead at half-time courtesy of a neat try of their own on 26 minutes, the dangerous Tommy Bowe easily beating the outmanoeuvred Paice on the outside before racing into the corner - Dunne adding an excellent conversion.
With Lamb off, Armitage had assumed kicking duties and his penalty two minutes after the restart edged England back ahead, but only for a five minutes as Dunne responded in kind.
However, the game's turning point came on 53 minutes when the increasingly-influential Geraghty produced a superbly-weighted kick over the head Johne Murphy for Varndell which allowed the winger to touch down in the corner.
Armitage again missed the conversion, but a penalty just before the hour mark moved the Saxons 19-13 clear with their pack by now beginning to dominate.
With Irish defence stretched further by the minute, the pressure finally told on 72 when Armitage's clever offload allowed Varndell to canter in for an easy second.
Armitage then added a real gloss to the scoreline in injury-time as he showed a real turn of pace to dive over in the left corner, and the London Irish man added the extras to seal a satisfying night.
