England Counties opened their three-match tour of Romania with a 41-17 win over CSM Bucharest.
Despite a match day squad which featured 19 new caps, includingHi North Midands and Birmingham Moseley prop Joe Wrafter, Counties showed no inexperience, gstarting strongly and scoring the first points of the game through a Lawrence Rayner penalty.
Just three minutes later Joe Makin and Sam Baker linked up to put Jake Lloyd in for the first try of the game. The successful conversion gave England a 10-0 lead.
CSM responded with a penalty but Counties had the final say in the first half with a break from Joe Bercis off a lineout giving Jack Gash the opportunity to score.
That was followed by a second try from a driving maul just before the break, giving Counties a 22-3 lead.
Counties began the second half just as they finished the first, using the power of the forwards to score once again, this time through Billy Harding.
Bucharest began to build into the game and scored through their hooker after 50 minutes to make it 10-29.
Lloyd got his second of the evening after the backs played the ball through the hands for the winger to score in the corner.
And the final try of the evening came with 15 minutes left on the clock as Lewis Minikin found a gap in the opposition’s defence to sprint through.
It was the hosts who scored the final points of the match, touching down for a try in the final minute.
England Counties
15 Grant Connon (Darlington Mowden Park and Durham); 14 Jake Lloyd (Blackheath and Kent), 13 Matt Hema (Cambridge and Eastern Counties), Tom Wheatcroft (Hinckley and Leicestershire), 11 Sam Baker (Ampthill and East Midlands); 10 Lawrence Rayner (Ampthill and East Midlands), 9 Jack Gash (Rosslyn Park and Surrey); 1 Joe Smart (Cinderford and)Gloucestershire), 2 Billy Harding (Esher and Surrey), 3 Cam Zeiss (Esher and Surrey), 4 Joe Makin (Hull Ionians and Yorkshire – capt), 5 Liam Edwards (Esher and Surrey), 6 Andy Hughes (Sale and Lancashire), 7 Joe Bercis (Ampthill and East Midlands), 8 Ollie Hodgson (Darlington Mowden Park and Durham).
Replacements: Dan Maher (Sedgley Park and Lancashire), Joe Wrafter (Birmingham Moseley and North Midlands), Karl Garside ( Ampthill and Hertfordshire), Rob Conquest (Cambridge and Hertfordshire), Matt Lane (Cinderford and Gloucestershire), Harry Hone (Cinderford and Gloucestershire), Tom Banks (Bishops Stortford and Hertfordshire), Lewis Minikin (Hull Ionians and Yorkshire), Warren Seals (DMP and Durham), Jamie Broadley (Sheffield Tigers and Yorkshire).