England boss hails Saint Foden
ENGLAND boss Martin Johnson was delighted to see Ben Foden keep his scoring run going after a winning send-off for his side at Twickenham yesterday.
The Saints star played a major role and the whole 80 minutes in England's 35-26 win over the Barbarians.
Foden made it two tries in two games for England after diving over in the 37th minute of a first half that the hosts totally dominated.
The Saints full-back scored in England's last outing in the Six Nations in France and after touching down again the 24-year-old looks certain to start in the No. 15 shirt in the first Test against Australia on June 12.
Johnson said: "It was good to see Ben score again. He played pretty well again for us and is looking good at full-back.
"We talked at half-time how we didn't want to get too loose and get sucked in to throwing it around like the Barbarians, because that can happen in these games.
"We said we wanted to stay direct like we did in Ben's try. Nick (Easter) did really well running up the middle and Ben supported well, which is something we have talked about this week."
England sizzled under the sun in the first half, but wilted as the temperature soared after the break from a remarkable Barbarians comeback from 32-7 down.
They held on to register a 35-26 win as they head off to Australia today for the toughest of assignments. Any win is a timely boost and just what Johnson will garner from this mixed bag of a display is difficult to gauge.
Johnson picked out lock Dave Attwood and prop Jon Golding for special praise, but the Australians will offer a much sterner test to England's set-piece Down Under.
The England boss said: "It was a worthwhile exercise. There was a lot of running, which tested the guys, some haven't played for three weeks so that will do them some good."
Read Ashley Potter's England v Barbarians match report in today's Chron
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Tributes paid to Niamh Curry as brave five-year-old loses battle against cancer
- BREAKING NEWS: Pensioner dies after collision at Northampton shopping centre
- Man tied to tree and beaten on Northampton Racecourse
- BREAKING NEWS: Woman’s body found after ‘suicide’ in Northampton hotel room
- BREAKING NEWS: Seven-year-old boy dies following house fire in Northamptonshire
- Staff strike at Northampton school over academy plans forces closure
- Northampton binmen at ‘breaking point’
- Saints’ stadium plans get support as long as traffic issues solved
- Eastern European pupils helping school standards across Northampton
- Exclusive: PM David Cameron says Northamptonshire Police Commissioner role is “a big job for a big local figure”
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
