'It's been brilliant for me' - Saints star Pearson enjoyed his England A experience

The Saints flanker scored two tries in a 91-5 demolition of Portugal in front of more than 15,000 fans at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in Leicester.

Saints prop Tarek Haffar also got some game time, coming off the bench for England A, whose attack was led by Sam Vesty.

And the scores were certainly flowing for Vesty's charges as the hosts dotted down 15 times during the convincing success.

Pearson was at the heart of the performance, securing the man of the match award.

And the Saints star said: "We played a lot of attacking rugby and kept hold of the ball pretty well considering we'd only been together for a week or so.

"The scoreline doesn't lie so I'm happy.

"It's been really nice and it's good to meet a few guys I haven't before, and even better to play with them.

"There was some serious talent out there, some of the guys are 20, 21 and running the show in pivotal positions so to play alongside those guys has been awesome.

"It's been brilliant for me and it gives me game time.

"We get to work on combinations that could come to fruition in the future and it's been brilliant.

"The coaches have given us the freedom to do our own thing and that's been great."

Gloucester’s George Skivington headed up the England coaching team.

And Skivington said: “There was a void in the opposition and quality of players but at half-time we sat down and were realistic in what we wanted, and challenged ourselves to show character.

"To score that many points is a challenge no matter who you play, but I give credit to Portugal – they stayed in it and fought very hard.

"Considering all Premiership teams defend and attack differently, I thought the boys did a great job in getting aligned and if there were any problems they solved them quickly."