England edge Samoa 18-17 to stay unbeaten

England preserved their unbeaten record in the Rugby World Cup after a late Danny Care try earned a scrappy 18-17 win over a strong Samoa side at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, France on Saturday.

England made a decent start as Ollie Chessum scored a ninth-minute try, with Owen Farrell then adding a penalty in the 16th minute to become England’s record points scorer as they took an 8-0 lead.

However, Samoa brilliantly fought back, two tries from Nigel Ah Wong, both converted by Lima Sopoaga, gave them a strong 14-8 lead at the break and, with two other tries also ruled out, they really were the team on top. In the second half, a Sopoaga penalty increased Samoa’s advantage to 17-8 before England responded with a Farrell penalty, the England Captain then leaving three points out there as he was timed out by the shot clock. With the score at 17-11 to Samoa, and Tumua Manu sent to the sin-bin, Care finally got England over the line for a converted try, his side then holding out for the final five minutes to take the win and secure an unbeaten run in the pool stages.

Samoa showed their attacking prowess in the first few minutes, but it was England who were first on the scoreboard, Joe Marchant popping up in midfield to feed Manu Tuilagi who used his strength to draw the defenders, pass on to Freddie Steward, and then send Chessum over in the corner. Farrell then went for the posts in the 16th minute to seal a huge record.

It wasn’t long though until Samoa finally got into the match with an incredible passage of play, Ah Wong finishing off the move in the corner and Sopoaga adding the extras to bring the game to 8-7.

That try gave Samoa the momentum and after a huge chance through some more silky passing the penalty came. As they mauled from the line-out, Nerai Fumoi sent the cross-field kick to the corner which Ah Wong brilliantly collected and got down, Sopoaga converting once again as they took a 14-8 lead.

Duncan Paia’aua thought he was in next for Samoa after a poor box-kick from Alex Mitchell caused chaos, but the full back’s effort was ruled out for a knock on in the build-up, Ah Wong’s potential hat-trick then being chalked off moments later as his foot was in touch, leaving them with a commanding 14-8 lead at half time. (C.D)

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