Reaction to England A's win over Ireland A
Head coach Lee Blackett and captain Jack van Poortvliet react to England A's 28-12 victory at Ashton Gate Stadium.
England Men A were victorious in their fixture with Ireland A, despite having a short preparation time and head coach Blackett saw plenty of promise from his side.
The youthful team put in a strong showing as they made the step up to international rugby with a 28-12 win, but left a few tries out there in difficult conditions.
“The team gelled really well,” said Blackett. “It was just those little things near the end where if we'd taken those chances we could have been further ahead.
“Come the summer I'd love to see some of the team go and get capped against Argentina. Hopefully a few of the guys have put themselves forward.
“Today you saw the strength in depth that we have with guys coming from quite a few Premiership teams.”
Try-scorer and captain, van Poortvliet, was one of the four members of the squad boasting Senior Men’s caps, and he also recognised that the team had done well to gel as quickly as they had.
He said: “To captain any England side is an absolute honour and I really enjoyed it. It's testament to the players that we came together on Tuesday and how quickly we got to know each other on and off the field.”
The scrum half felt that England could have taken more from the game, but the experience of playing international rugby is invaluable for the squad and will be fuelling their desire to get capped at senior level.
“It was tough in the conditions and it was a bit frustrating that we couldn't get more tries on the board, but I'm so proud of their effort.
“I think the A programme is brilliant. There are so many guys doing so well in the Premiership and on the cusp, to be able to test each other in a different environment is great. You go around the whole changing room and everyone there wants to play Test level rugby.”
