England Saxons 23 Ireland 17:Ireland Wolfhounds were overpowered up front by England Saxons at Exeter's Sandy Park, but scored three tries and showed plenty of invention in the backline in the six-point defeat as preparations for the Six Nations officially began this evening.

Declan Kidney will have been pleased to see tries from wings David Kearney and Simon Zebo, while Tomás O’Leary offered a reminder of his physical threat when he barged his way over the line after replacing Isaac Boss in the second half.

Eric Elwood’s side was always chasing the game, however. It was evident very early on that the front five was likely to be dominated by a meatier English pack, which set up the first try for 19-year-old scrumhalf Ben Spencer and forced three penalties for Freddie Burns.

England’s only other try came from number eight Thomas Waldrom, while Burns converted both.

The Saxons featured six capped internationals and three members of the World Cup squad in Delon Armitage, Matt Banahan and Waldrom - but the emphasis for both teams was on youth, with Nevin Spence, Eoin O'Malley and Ian Keatley also in the Irish backline.

England's forwards flexed their muscles when Matt Mullan won an early penalty but when Burns went for touch they lost control in the shadow of the posts after driving in-field. It was an early warning shot to Ireland.

Ugo Monye's strong work at the breakdown secured England another penalty and this time Burns went for goal, putting the Saxons ahead after six minutes.

After they force yet another penalty, Burns opted for touch and they built a powerful driving maul after Gaskell's clean lineout take and drove in-field. Paul Doran-Jones broke away to within touching distance of the line and Spencer made the most of some illegal blocking to dart over for the try.

As the 19-year-old shaped to pass, Robson created a gap by holding off Isaac Boss and Spencer stole around the fringes to dive over for a try converted by Burns.

Ireland launched their first attack of note with a break from half Keatley and they should have scored after Zebo, who scored a hat-trick for Munster against Northampton last weekend, was released down the left.

Banahan came racing across and crashed Zebo into touch with a tackle of dubious legality but the Irish wing had Kearney on his inside shoulder and should have used him.

The Wolfhounds kept the pressure on and created a breakthrough with a driving maul. O'Malley then received and drifted wide to draw Matt Hopper, creating a gap for Kearney to score. The tryscorer showed a lot of class in posession at times.

Burns missed a penalty shot before the interval as Waldrom, in control at the base of a dominant England scrum, began to catch the eye with a series of strong carries.

The Leicester man played as if he had a point to prove after being overtaken in the England pecking order by Ben Morgan and Luke Narraway since his role as an unused member of the World Cup squad.

Ireland started well after the interval with a sublime take and counter-attack from Kearney but again it was the Saxons who scored first.

Burns's attempted chip in behind the Ireland defence deflected off Nevin Spence for Waldrom to collect and charged over the line.

The Wolfhounds introduced O'Leary at scrumhalf and he who brought an energy to the Irish effort, before darting over from the base of a ruck to keep the them in touch.

Burns then missed a penalty to put England out of reach and Ireland were again indebted to Kearney when came flying across to deny Monye as the England wing chased Armitage's kick.

Burns kept his nerve minutes later, however, and nudged England into a 20-12 lead, sealing the victory with his third penalty of a satisfying evening for the Saxons.

Zebo crossed in added time after a swift from the Irish backs but the result was long since beyond doubt.