England 18-17 Samoa: Danny Care scores late try to help Red Rose edge tense clash after a poor display … as Owen Farrell becomes his country’s all-time record points scorer

• England defeated Samoa 18-17 in their final Pool game at the Rugby World Cup
• But their performance was littered with errors as Samoa caused them problems
• Care scored a late try to spare his side’s blushes and England remain unbeaten
• Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

England were left scratching their head in Lille and, rest assured, it was not down to the outbreak of bed bugs. This was a scrappy, clunky and at times brainless victory that reminded us that if England were in any other pool then they would have struggled to make the knockouts.

At times it felt like the clock had been turned back to England’s summer of doom. It was the thrill-a-minute Samoans against the spill-a-minute English. If there was one moment that summed up Steve Borthwick’s night it was the sight of Owen Farrell being timed out by the shot clock because he was too busy arguing with the referee.

His voided kick almost cost his team the game. A late try by Danny Care got England out of jail, as the replacement scrum-half saved his team twice this a desperate late tackle to deny the Pacific Islanders a famous victory. This uninspiring England team will drag themselves into the quarter-final and there will be more questions about their selection as the George Ford-Farrell axis struggled.

Samoa entered this competition with a knife already in their side. Like a wounded gladiator entering the ring to take on the empire. They are robbed of the opportunity to play against tier one opposition and arrived in France cold. That much was evident in their dismal opening round performances but yesterday they finally turned up.

They were rampant. It felt like their party, smashing the handicap to bits. What a joy to see Theo McFarland popping the ball out of tackles, sharing his gift with the world, looking like he had just been pulled out of the NBA. And their tenacious scrum half, Jonathan Taumateine, played every bit like the anime superhero that inspires his peroxide blonde mullet

Danny Care scored a late try as England narrowly beat Samoa 18-17 in their final Pool game

Care came to the rescue after England were pushed all the way by the Pacific Islanders

Ollie Chessum opened the scoring for England after they made a very bright start to the game

Even England’s opening try had a touch of the Pacific Islands. England’s boy from Fogapoa, Manu Tuilagi, was playing against his country of birth for the first time. Now he has a Leicester accent. He moved to England without a visa but now he has become a national treasure, sucking in two defenders with a hard line to send over Ollie Chessum for the opening try.

Owen Farrell missed the conversion but a few minutes later he kicked the penalty that moved him ahead of Jonny Wilkinson as England’s all-time leading points scorer. He moved his kicking tee to steal a yard on the angle, before sending it over with his familiar stare. Jamie George gave him a celebratory hug but there was little fanfare, because moments later it was Samoa’s turn.

Roared on by their whooping supporters, they won collisions, kept the ball alive and played with the sense of invention that they grow up with back in their village teams. They cut open England with ease, looking bigger and faster. It made horrible viewing for Steve Borthwick, whose team will next week face another Pacific Island team who are even bigger and even faster.

In the 24th minute, they scored one of the tries of the World Cup. Tumua Manu intercepted Jamie George’s pass in his own half and they launched an attack that seemed to go on forever. There was finesse and pull-back passes, backed up by thumping collisions. Jonathan Taumateine passed to Steve Luatua who passed to Tumua Manu who passed to Nigel Ah-Wong to score an inspired try.

Five minutes later, Samoa were over again. Using the lineout as a platform, Danny Toala drove a Crossfield kick that dropped just behind Freddie Steward. It may as well have been laser guided as it dropped into Ah Wong’s hands to score with barely a millimetre of grass to spare.

Owen Farrell then slotted an early penalty which put England 8-0 ahead after just 17 minutes

Farrell overtook Jonny Wilkinson to become his country’s all-time record points scorer 

But Samoa fought back brilliantly and Nigel Ah Wong scored two superb tries in the first half

The second saw Ah Wong collect a clever kick from Lima Sopoaga and go over in the corner

Samoa enjoyed quick ball, finding space around the edge of England’s defence. England, in contrast, were slow and turgid. Alex Mitchell’s box kick went nowhere and England were fortunate not to be further behind when Duncan Paia’aua’s try was disallowed for a contentious knock on after the conversion had been taken,

England were scruffy and clunky. They dropped balls, sliced kicks and looked like a team with no attacking bite. The half ended with a knock-on by Farrell and Sopoaga kicked his side further ahead in the second half when Billy Vunipola was penalised for a no-arms tackle.

There was a roar of expectation when Marcus Smith came off the bench to replace George Ford after 51 minutes. He watched as Chessum had a try ruled out for double movement and English tempers flared. Moments later, Mitchell was penalised forholding onto the ball at the ruck. But Samoa missed touch with the kick and Jonny May ran the ball back. Smith sparked the attack with a delayed pass but Marchant’s try was ruled out for a forward pass by Itoje.

Samoa also had two further tries disallowed before half-time as England were left rattled 

Steve Borthwick’s side pressed in the second half but Samoa’s defence propelled them back

The Pacific Islanders put in by far their best performance of the tournament against England

England clawed their way back through Samoa’s ill discipline. Two off the ball tackles, two penalties. Farrell kicked three points before inexcusably missing his second. The captain had been pleading with the referee to award Samoa a yellow card and in the process his 60 seconds ran out on the clock shot and he missed the chance to kick at goal.

Tumua Manu was sin-binned for a high tackle and England were handed a lifeline. With just one try from 11 entries to the 22, Care finally put his side back in front when he sniped from the back of a scrum. He saved his team twice, with an ankle-tap tackle to stop Neria Fomai from scoring the most famous try in Samoan history.

England’s display was littered with errors before they eventually made their pressure count

It was a memorable day for Samoa despite the defeat and was a reminder of their qualities

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