George Skivington will lead his country for the first time tomorrow when England Saxons take on Ireland A at Bath's Recreation Ground (ko 2.00pm).
The Wasps flanker missed out on the Saxons captaincy last February after the scheduled match against Ireland A was called off due to adverse weather conditions.
And on the eve of his first match as skipper Skivington is hoping it's second time lucky as he puts last year's disappointment behind him "I was gutted when the match was called off last year but this is another opportunity." he said.
"It's a massive honour to captain England at any level and the team has bonded very well.
"We've had three training days and a team run which isn't a lot of time to pull a side together but there are some good lads here and we've all worked hard. Everyone looks sharp so hopefully it will all come together on the day."
The Saxons were beaten 49-22 by Ireland A in the 2009 Churchill Cup final and Skivington knows his squad should be prepared for a competitive encounter.
"The lads that went to the Churchill Cup have experience of playing Ireland A and they wouldn't have forgotten that game, it will be sitting in the back of their minds. We know tomorrow will be tough.
"I enjoy these big occasions and there are plenty of guys in the squad who will thrive on the big game pressure. The Rec is a great stadium to play at with a great atmosphere, let's hope the weather holds out for us!" concluded Skivington.
England Saxons squad to face Ireland A:
15 Alex Goode (Saracens), 14 David Strettle (Harlequins), 13 Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), 12 Brad Barritt (Saracens), 11 Noah Cato (Saracens), 10 Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints), 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)*, 1 Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby), 2 David Paice (London Irish), 3 Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)*, 4 Dave Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)*, 5 George Skivington (London Wasps, captain), 6 Tom Wood (Worcester Warriors)*, 7 Andy Saull (Saracens), 8 Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Replacements: 16 Tom Mercey (Saracens), 17 Rob Webber (London Wasps) , 18 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)*, 19 Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby), 20 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons) , 21 Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints), 22 Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors)*
*Denotes uncapped for England Saxons
Last year England Saxons recorded victories against Portugal (66-0) before travelling to Denver for the Churchill Cup, beating Argentina Jaguars (28-20) and USA (56-17) on the way to the final where they lost to Ireland A 49-22.
