On a sultry afternoon more comparable to Atlanta than Denver, the England Saxons moved a step closer to taking home their fifth Churchill Cup Trophy with a 49-17 win over Russia at Infinity Park in Glendale Wednesday afternoon.
England opened the scoring in the first three minutes when the Saxon’s flanker Tom Wood slipped through the Russian defense for a try (converted) under the posts. England would add 21 more points before time expired in the half.
The lone highlight for Russia came in the fortieth minute. Wing Vasily Artemyev reached the corner for a try. The missed conversion made the halftime score 28-14 in favor of the Saxons.
| 2010 Churchill Cup - Pools | ||
| Saturday June 5 Infinity Park | ||
| Pool A | Canada | 48 |
| Uruguay | 6 | |
| Pool B | United States | 39 |
| Russia | 22 | |
| Wednesday June 9 Infinity Park | ||
| Pool A | England Saxons | 49 |
| Russia | 17 | |
| Pool B | France | |
| 5:30 PM | Uruguay | |
| Sunday June 13 Infinity Park | ||
| Pool A | England Saxons | |
| 1:00 PM | United States | |
| Pool B | France | |
| 3:30 PM | Canada | |
| 2010 Churchill Cup - Finals | ||
| June 19 Red Bull Arena | ||
| 3rd | Russia | |
| TBA | ||
| 2nd | TBA | |
| TBA | ||
| 1st | TBA | |
| TBA | ||
England’s Tom Varndell opened the second half with his second try in the afternoon in the first three minutes, and the conversion stretched England’s lead to 35-14. England would go on to add 14 points in a dominating performance to take their opening game of the tournament by a score of 49-17.
England will face an energized United States side at Infinity Park Saturday. The Eagles are coming off a 39-22 victory over Russia last week that gave the United States their first win in a Churchill Cup opening match. Kick off for the Saxons versus the Eagles is at 1:00 MST.
Russia’s loss moves them to 0-2 in their Churchill Cup début. The Russians will play in the second consolation round when the Churchill Cup Finals begin at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey June 19.
About Churchill Cup
The Churchill Cup is named for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Established in 2003, the alliance between the English Rugby Football Union (RFU), Rugby Canada, and USA Rugby was created to help develop the sport in North America following a successful tour of the continent by the English National Team in 2001.
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The Churchill Cup has traditionally been a traveling tournament with matches held in multiple cities, but the loss of a major sponsor, Barclays, prompted the Alliance to entertain the idea of a consolidating the tournament to one city. In 2009, the Alliance selected Denver since the city is considered an enthusiastic sports town with a growing appetite for rugby.
USA Rugby’s CEO & President of Rugby Operations Nigel Melville is hopeful that one day Denver will become the tournament’s permanent home.
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