Key events
25 mins: Samoa come straight back at England, Taumatine offloading through his legs at the scrum and Theo McFarland making big gains before Sama Malolo, the human battering ram, sets sights on the line. The ball squirms loose and Steward gathers, but Samoa will have the scrum.
TRY! England 8-7 Samoa (Ah-Wong 22′)
Well then! Samoa put together a superb, stop-start passing move that snakes from right to left and then back to the right corner, where Danny Toala flattens George Ford, before a quick overarm pass finds Nigel Ah-Wong to score in the corner! Sopoaga’s conversion flicks the left-hand post and goes over, and we’ve got a game here.
19 mins: England 8-0 Samoa The Samoa captain, Michael Alaalatoa, is having some problems keeping his front row locked in at the scrum. He gets a warning from Andy Brace.
Owen Farrell is England’s all-time top point scorer!
England go for the posts this time, and Farrell slots the three points! It puts England 8-0 up, and takes his career tally to 1181 – two clear of Jonny Wilkinson. Zero celebration from the captain, who gets a pat on the back from Jamie George.
16 mins: Jonny May chicanes beyond a tackle before running into Sama Malolo. George Ford’s kick-through is collected by Taumateine, but we come back for a penalty against Danny Toala.
15 mins: Farrell’s no-look pass opens a corridor of space for Tuilagi, who is very much up for this. He charges 20 metres forward before Taumateine and Paia’aua haul him down, with Steward close by. The ball is reworked to Farrell, who is held up a couple of metres out.
13 mins: An early knock for Courtney Lawes has replacement George Martin warming up on the sidelines – but Lawes looks OK to continue.
In defence of Sopoaga, he has lost the kicking tee he used since childhood at this tournament. Despite pleas for its return, it has not resurfaced – although his former kicking coach, Alex Davies, sent him a similar replacement.
12 mins: Chessum is penalised for sealing off, handing Samoa the chance to cut the gap back to two points. Lima Sopoaga lines it up – and puts it well wide! They’ve got to take those chances, surely.
10 mins: Owen Farrell lines up the conversion, knowing two points will take him past Jonny Wilkinson as England’s all-time top point scorer. And he misses it! Ah well, plenty of time.
TRY! England 5-0 Samoa (Chessum 9′)
From a standing start in midfield, Farrell works the ball left and Samoa’s defence loses its shape, Steward able to draw players forward and find Tuilagi. He offloads to big Ollie Chessum, who thunders down the left flank to score!
7 mins: England get a warning from the referee for their early transgressions. For Samoa, Nigel Ah-Wong finds space but is hauled down before he can offload. England can break, and it’s hooker Jamie George with a kick-and-run! We love to see it …
5 mins: A pair of England lineouts, the second of which is uncontested as Samoa opt to meet their opponents on the ground. It pays off as the England maul is held up, Tom Curry called offside. Still, today is going better for him than the Argentina game.
3 mins: Samoa have the put-in at a scrum – their pack has a 35kg edge on England’s – but England hold up better here, Ben Earl offering a trademark celebration as Samoan legs give way.
1 mins: Tuilagi gets on the ball early, but Samoa hold firm and win it back. Jonathan Taumateine, he of the Ric Flair peroxide mullet, starts an enterprising attack before Danny Toala’s diagonal kick is skewed into touch.
Here we go
The referee, Andrew Brace, gets us started.
England fans sing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” as the Samoa players gather in a circle before the Siva Tau. A few whistles from the crowd, then things settle down for Samoa’s pre-game ritual.
What a moment for Manu Tuilagi, too – the England centre grew up in Samoa, and his brothers wore the blue shirt internationally. This is his first ever game against the country of his birth.
The teams are out for the anthems in Lille. Plenty of Samoa flags waving in the stands, but an even larger England contingent have hopped on the Eurostar to see their team in action.
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Here’s our match report from Wales’ earlier win over Georgia:
Steve Borthwick talks to ITV: “It’s been a great couple of weeks – we had a really well-deserved break for a few days, then ripped into training. It’s been tough and physical, because we expect this Test match to be tough and physical.
On Ford and Farrell, he says: “It’s great to have players of such quality in this squad; they’ve got a great winning rate as a combination, I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do today.” On Tom Curry’s return, he says the England back row now has “speed, power and physicality – and that’s what we’ll need against Samoa.”
I mentioned earlier that Samoa have a very slim chance of getting to the quarter-finals. Here’s what they need to happen:
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Argentina and Japan draw in Sunday’s game
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Neither team earns a bonus point in the draw
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Samoa beat England by at least 29 points
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Samoa also pick up a try bonus point
If all that were to happen, Samoa would sneak into second place on points difference. They need a few snookers, it’s fair to say.
Pool C result: Wales 43-19 Georgia
Wales have sealed top spot in Pool C and a quarter-final against either Argentina or Japan (in all likelihood), but they didn’t have it all their own way as Georgia roared back in the second half, getting back to 24-19 behind before Louis Rees-Zammit helped Wales over the line.
Oh, and there was also a massive fight which saw two players yellow carded. Luke McLaughlin was watching …
The teams
England Freddie Steward, Joe Marchant, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (c), Jonny May, George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Kyle Sinckler, George Martin, Billy Vunipola, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Ollie Lawrence.
Samoa Duncan Paia’aua, Nigel Ah-Wong, Tumua Manu, Danny Toala, Neria Fomai, Lima Sopoaga, Jonathan Taumateine; Jordan Lay, Sama Malolo, Michael Alaalatoa (c), Sam Slade, Brian Alainu’u’ese, Theo McFarland, Fritz Lee, Steven Luatua.
Replacements: Seilala Lam, James Lay, Paul Alo-Emile, Sootala Fa’aso’o, Alamanda Motuga, Melani Matavao, Christian Leali’ifano, Miracle Faiilagi.
Preamble
Before this World Cup began, if you had told the average England fan their team’s Pool D fate would be sealed before the final match, they would probably have feared the worst. Instead, they have defied gloomy predictions to win their first three games, and can already look forward to the quarter-finals with top spot assured.
With that in mind, Steve Borthwick is sending out a side close to his best XV – 13 of the 15 players who started against Argentina will line up in Lille today. Owen Farrell and George Ford both start as the head coach prepares a dress rehearsal for the knockout stages, where England are likely to face Fiji.
Samoa can technically still qualify for the last eight, but need an extraordinary series of events to go their way. Realistically, their aim is a top-three finish and an automatic spot in 2027 after a disappointing campaign. Beyond pride and permutations, here is also a chance to earn a historic first-ever win over England.
