England Saxons kicked off their Churchill Cup defence with a hard fought 28-10 victory over Argentina Jaguars.
Second half tries from Matt Smith, Tom Varndell and Man-of-the-Match Joe Simpson put the Saxons in front in the second half after a first half of errors.
In a physical encounter the two sides were at loggerheads in the first half which saw penalties occupying the scoreboard, one from Danny Cipriani and two from Martin Rodriguez sent the teams in at the interval at 3-6.
Saxons added a further penalty and two conversions in the second half from the boot of Cipriani and a drop goal from replacement fly half Stephen Myler.
England's second half comeback saw lively debutant Smith cross over under the posts after receiving an inside pass from Shane Geraghty.
But Argentina were never far behind and after another England error, Rodriguez potted another penalty to take his count to three and the scores to 10-9.
Two further errors followed one for Argentina crossing and one for England being offside, to keep the scores ticking to 13-12.
It took scrum half Simpson to break the deadlock, popping up from the back of a scrum to run over on the outside taking Saxons to a 20-12 lead.
Argentina struck in the 63 minute through replacement number 18 Tomas Roan and a failed conversion took them to within three points.
Varndell took Saxons eight points clear on the 70 minute making a short 10 metre dash for the line after grabbing the ball from the ruck.
A drop goal by Myler on the whistle cemented England's victory, 28-20.
Tries: Smith, Simpson, Varndell;
Pens: Cipriani (2);
Cons: Cipriani (2);
Drop Goal: Myler
Sin binned: None
Tries: Roan;
Pens: Rodriguez (5);
Cons:
Sin binned: None
England Saxons: 15 Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), 14 Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), 13 Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), 12 Shane Geraghty (London Irish),11 Matt Smith (Leicester Tigers), 10 Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), 9 Joe Simpson (London Wasps),1 David Flatman (Bath Rugby), 2 Rob Webber (London Wasps), 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)*, 4 Peter Short (Bath Rugby), 5 Stuart Hooper (Captain, Bath Rugby), 6 Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), 7 Ben Woods (Leicester Tigers), 8 Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
Replacements: 16 Tom Mercey (Saracens) rep Cole (40min), 17 Mark Lambert (Harlequins) rep Flatman (68min), 18 Neil Briggs (Sale Sharks), 19 Tom Guest (Harlequins) rep Narraway (60min), 20 Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons) rep Short (40), 21 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons) rep Simpson (75), 22 Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints) rep Cipriani (65).
Argentina Jaguars: 15 Martin Rodriguez (Atletico de Rosario), 14 Tomas De Vedia (London Irish), 13 Matias Viazzo (Bourgoin), 12 Horascio Alberto San Martin (Tala RC), 11Francisco Jose Merello (Regatas de Bella Vista), 10 Ignacio Mieres (Perpignan), 9 Martin Landajo (CASI), 1 Juan Figallo (Jockey Club), 2 Agustin Creevy (Captain, San Luis), 3 Pedro Arocena Ledesma (Stade Francais), 4 Carlos Jose Caceres (Tucuman Lawn Tennis), 5 Mariano Galarza (Univeritario de La Plata), 6 Alejandro Tomas Campos (Pueyrredon), 7 Leonardo Senatore (GER), 8 Tomas Leonardi (SIC)
Replacements: Juan Francisco Gomez (Leeds), 17 Mauricio Raul Guidone (La Plata RC), 18 Tomas Roan (La Plata), 19 Agustin Guzman (Tucuman RC), 20 Francisco Cubelli (Belgrano Athletic), 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta (CUBA), 22 Lucas Bernado Oro (Universitario)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Saxons 2009 Churchill Cup fixtures and results
Saturday, June 6
England Saxons 28 - 20 Argentina Jaguars, Infinity Park, Denver
Sunday, June 14
USA v England Saxons, Infinity Park, Denver, kick off 13.00
Sunday June 21
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Churchill Cup finals (12.05pm, 2.30pm, 4.45pm)
