England Saxons v Ireland A
Saxons out for revenge at the Rec
Scrum.com
January 31, 2010
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Ireland 'A' celebrate their Churchill Cup victory over England Saxons, Ireland 'A' v England Saxons, Churchill Cup Final, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Colorado, USA, June 21, 2009
Ireland 'A' defeated the Saxons to win the Churchill Cup in 2009 © Getty Images
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Ireland 'A' will be out to kick-start the senior side's Six Nations challenge when they take on England Saxons at the Recreation Ground on Saturday, with memories of their thumping 49-22 victory in the 2009 Churchill Cup final still fresh in the memory.

The Saxons have named a strong side as they go out for revenge in Bath and have a number of players keen to impress before England kick off their Six Nations challenge against Wales at Twickenham on February 6.

Ben Youngs will make his debut at scrum-half after training with the senior side in Portugal this week, and he is partnered at halfback by one of four players with Test experience, Northampton's Shane Geraghty. London Irish hooker David Paice and Gloucester prop Paul Doran-Jones are two others, while Harlequins wing David Strettle starts out wide.

Danny Cipriani was unavailable for selection due to a family bereavement, but the side will be captained by his Wasps team-mate George Skivington and features Dom Waldouck at outside-centre.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney will have one eye firmly on proceedings after selecting a 44-man panel for the Six Nations and drawing his 'A' squad from that number. Among them are returning front-rowers Rory Best and Marcus Horan, who have both been out with long-term injuries.

Horan made his return to action with Munster in their recent Heineken Cup win over Northampton while Best has returned to full training with Ulster after being provisionally ruled out for the season with a neck injury. Both slot straight into the starting line-up along with Horan's Munster team-mate Tony Buckley. Veteran lock Mick O'Driscoll will lead the team soon to be rechristened as the Irish Wolfhounds.

Promising Leinster flanker Sean O'Brien will be looking to force his way into contention for full honours during the Six Nations after making his Test debut during November and the same will be said of Shane Jennings, with the duo starting at blindside and openside respectively.

Paddy Wallace returns to fly-half after starting in the centre against Australia and South Africa in November and is partnered by Peter Stringer and Isaac Boss is forced to make do with a place on the bench.

England Saxons: Alex Goode (Saracens); David Strettle (Harlequins), Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Noah Cato (Saracens); Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby), David Paice (London Irish), Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester), Dave Attwood (Gloucester), George Skivington (London Wasps, capt), Tom Wood (Worcester Warriors), Andy Saull (Saracens), Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)

Replacements: Tom Mercey (Saracens), Rob Webber (London Wasps), Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Luke Narraway (Gloucester), Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons), Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints), Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors)

Ireland 'A': Gavin Duffy (Connacht); Fionn Carr (Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Keith Matthews (Connacht), Ian Dowling (Munster); Paddy Wallace (Ulster), Peter Stringer (Munster); Marcus Horan (Munster), Rory Best (Ulster), Tony Buckley (Munster), Mick O'Driscoll (Munster, capt), Devin Toner (Leinster), Shane Jennings (Leinster), Sean O'Brien (Leinster), John Muldoon (Connacht)

Replacements: John Fogarty (Leinster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Ryan Caldwell (Ulster), Niall Ronan (Munster), Isaac Boss (Ulster), Ian Humphreys (Ulster), Darren Cave (Ulster)

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