Concept
England's second team was known as England B until 1992, when it was renamed as England A. In 2000, as part of its long-term strategic plan, the RFU re-examined the role of the 'second team' and decided that a change of name was desirable. Several names were considered – e.g. England Aces and England Bloods – before the name England Saxons was chosen from a short-list of possibles. The change of name took effect from mid-May 2006, just before the start of that year's Churchill Cup.
The Saxons are seen as an integral part of the RFU's development process:
"England Saxons is a key part of the development pathway to the senior side...The future success of rugby in England depends, to a large extent, on the next best 15 players.
The England Saxons will give up and coming players a platform to perform in an international environment and to show that they can make the step up when required." —Andy Robinson (England head coach), 18 May 2006England Saxons games do not count as full England internationals, regardless of the opposition, as players are not capped. However, the governing body of a lower-tier nation may grant full national caps when its senior side plays the Saxons—for example, USA Rugby awarded official Test caps for the USA team's matches against the Saxons through 2008. If the opposition awards Test caps for a match, it counts fully in Test statistics for the capping nation, though not for England.
Read more about this topic: England Saxons
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