England see guiding light in Simpson-Daniel

The England A coach, Joe Lydon, knows that his team have plenty to work on before Sunday's Churchill Cup final against Argentina after struggling to shake off Canada here on Sunday.

The England A coach, Joe Lydon, knows that his team have plenty to work on before Sunday's Churchill Cup final against Argentina after struggling to shake off Canada here on Sunday.

England had to rely on moments of individual brilliance from their more experienced campaigners, including stunning solo scores from James Simpson-Daniel and Tom Voyce, after becoming embroiled in a fractious affair with the gutsy Canadians. While Lydon knows his team must make sharp improvements, he refused to criticise their discipline despite at one stage having only 13 players after both Louis Deacon and then Andy Goode saw yellow as tempers flared.

"I actually thought I discipline was fantastic despite the two sin-binnings," he said. "We knew Canada play a very physical game and I thought our players matched that while trying to stick to the game plan. However, we did not help ourselves at times. We gave away possession and that meant we couldn't build pressure or scores. There are plenty of things to work on before Sunday."

A leading example in both form and composure was Gloucester's Simpson-Daniel who scored a try and created two more despite being shifted from centre to wing to replace Harlequins' Ugo Monye, who is a doubt for the final with a leg injury, as is the Sale flanker Chris Jones.