Saints ace Best hails hunger of Irish side

Published on Wednesday 24 June 2009 01:22

Neil Best says it was Ireland's hunger to win the Churchill Cup for the first time that was the telling factor in their win over England.

Ireland A beat England Saxons 49-22 in a final at Dick's Sporting Goods Arena in Denver, Colorado, that included five Northampton Saints players.

England were going for their third Churchill Cup title in a row and their fifth in all, with only New Zealand Moari interrupting their dominance twice in the six years of the competition.

But Ireland changed all that, with Best not only won the back-row battle against new team-mate Phil Dowson, who joins Saints from Newcastle this summer, but also the battle of the skippers, as the pair captained their respective sides.

Dowson admitted the Saxons suffered a pasting as the sharper and quicker Irish, overseen by Ireland coach Declan Kidney, ran in six tries.

Best was understandably delighted by his team's performance.

"It was a massive challenge," said the 30-year-old, who played in all three games for Ireland in the competition.

"We saw how they (England) played against the first two teams – physically they are a lot bigger and stronger than us. They are a very good team. I'm not going to say we smashed them in every facet, but we had the hunger.

"We've never won this competition before, so to win it is fantastic."

Best revealed beforehand he had never lost a final and the back-row bully kept up that winning run.

Asked for his captaincy technique, the Northampton flanker said: "Say nothing, let other people do the talking, supervise well and make sure people do their jobs."

Best was joined in the Irish side by Saints team-mate James Downey, who came off the bench to play at centre in the closing minutes. And the pair will enjoy bragging rights over Dowson, Stephen Myler, who played for an hour at fly-half and Shane Geraghty.

Geraghty, who is joining Saints from London Irish for next season, came on for the last 20 minutes at inside centre, but couldn't stem the tide.

Best suffered a sin-binning during the game, but the Irish were slicker in the backs and punished Saxons' mistakes, running in six tries to England's two.

Best added: "I'll be having a few sarsaparillas to celebrate this win."

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Saints ace Best hails hunger of Irish side

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