|
 23/9/07
England 44 Samoa 22
Another worringly nervy and disjointed
performance by England. And all this against
a Samoan side who did not have a line-out to
speak of and could barely absorb the
pressure at the scrummage. But at least
England did grind out a victory, which means
that their continuation in this World Cup
rests on a straight shoot-out against Tonga
at the Parc des Princes on Friday. Only a
victory will do, but if the Tongans play
with anything like the ferocity and
precision they showed against the Springboks
yesterday, England are in for another tough
night.
If there are legitimate reasons to
sympathise with England over their recent
trials it is because everyone in France
wants them home. It was a marvellous
atmosphere in Nantes, another genuinely
moving sporting contest in a World Cup which
is getting more colourful by the week. Samoa
did not play especially well. They took an
age to get into the game, were nowhere near
the force they have been in the past, yet
the crowd encouraged them throughout.
Allez les Bleus rang out as an accompaniment
to every Samoan tackle and charge. In fact,
the support was so partisan that Jonny
Wilkinson's penalty kicks, which were
essential to get England out of trouble on
the hour, were greeted with howls of
derision. Samoa will now leave France after
their final match against the United States
knowing that they have failed to do justice
to their reputation coming into the World
Cup, and they depart with the honour of the
Pacific Islands firmly in the hands and feet
of Tonga.
Martin Corry and Paul Sackey were the men
who dug England out of their hole. Both
scored twice, with Wilkinson adding 24
points, but, given the glut of possession
and territory England enjoyed, they made
awfully hard work of the win. Once again
there was precious little creativity in
midfield and England's kicking out of hand
was inexplicably bad. Samoa could barely
grab any sort of possession at the line-out,
yet England insisted on keeping the ball on
the pitch instead of booting it into the
stands and giving Ben Kay, Simon Shaw and
Corry a chance to recover it.
Wilkinson was the main culprit here.
Initially he and Olly Barkley looked a
decent partnership in midfield. Some of
England's early work when Barkley and
Wilkinson stood as pivots to generate some
width to their attacks was clever. But when
the Samoans started smashing into their
tackles England's shape went belly-up.
Wilkinson himself was the subject of a hit
by Brian Lima which could have removed his
head had not Wilkinson ducked in time. The
look that he gave Lima and the referee when
Alan Lewis allowed Lima to remain on the
field was priceless. But there is no doubt
that Wilkinson is not yet operating at the
same levels that he used to. His accuracy is
not there and he missed some important
tackles early on when the Tuilagi brothers
were running at full tilt.
Apart from England's line-out and a solid
scrummage, there wasn't a great deal more to
write home about. The big forwards started
well on their ball-carrying chores with most
of them enjoying the odd early rumble. Nick
Easter found the go-forward he could not
generate against South Africa and Corry was
much more effective in close contact. Matt
Stevens, too, put himself about, but the
promising start the forwards grafted was not
taken on by a back line which remains unsure
of its direction.
That was the real worry about yesterday.
England were gifted a try in the second
minute after Shaw charged down an attempted
clearance kick by Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu.
The fact that it then took an age and an
agony of indecision before Corry eventually
crashed over was a metaphor for the rest of
the match. England were actually 23-6 ahead
after half an hour, but did not have the
poise and the confidence to close the game
out. A similar bout of introspection against
Tonga next Friday and they will be on their
way back to Blighty.
At one stage in the second half there was
even a good chance that the unthinkable
might happen and Samoa might snatch a famous
victory. A try by Junior Polu, who beat
Mathew Tait to a touchdown after a fabulous
kick through by hooker Mahonri Schwalger,
got the Samoans to within six points of
England at 26-20, and when Loki Crichton
added the conversion to narrow the gap to
four there was a real sense in the stadium
that a major upset was on the cards.
That was the moment when England responded
with a series of Wilkinson penalty attempts,
which were greeted with boos. As Samoa
tired, England finished strongly with tries
by Corry and Sackey arriving in the last 10
minutes, but it wasn't a performance the
current World Champions can have a high
degree of satisfaction with.
There were exceptions. Most of the forwards
can look back on periods in which they
shaped events. Josh Lewsey was dependable at
the back. His intervention at a crucial time
when a Samoan score would have put them in
front was hugely important and there was a
measured effort from Andy Gomarsall, who
tidied up some dangerous situations early
on. Sackey, too, finished strongly after he
was belted by lock Kane Thompson, and Mark
Cueto is obviously a far better wing than he
is a full back.
Yet England are still a team that are
finding their way. There was one horrible
spell in the middle of the game when England
tried and failed to get a driving maul
going. Time after time forwards attempted to
pick and go only to fall over in a heap
after a few centimetres. That was precisely
the moment when England needed to reassert
their authority, yet they failed to do so.
They finished strongly in the end, but they,
better than anyone, will know that they have
to up the work rate and precision still
further. Tonga are up on Friday and
England's World Cup hangs in the balance.
They are still in there fighting, but on the
evidence of an afternoon in Nantes there are
no guarantees.
Match details:
England: J Lewsey; P Sackey, M Tait, O
Barkley, M Cueto, J Wilkinson, A Gomarsall;
A Sheridan, G Chuter, M Stevens, S Shaw, B
Kay, M Corry J Worsley, N Easter.
Replacements: M Regan, P Freshwater
(Sheridan 64), S Borthwick (Shaw 65), L
Moody (Worsley 69) P Richards, A Farrell, D
Hipkiss (Tait 72).
Samoa: L Crichton; D Lemi, S Mapusua, B
Lima, A Tuilagi, E Fuimaono-Sapolu, J Polu;
K Lealamanu'a, M Schwalger, C Johnston, J
Tekori, K Thompson, D Leo, S Sititi, H
Tuilagi.
Replacements: T Fuga, F Pala'amo (Lealamanu'a
61, Johnston 74), J Purdie (74), A To'oala
(H Tuilagi 68) S So'oialo (Polu 65), J
Meafou (Mapusua 69), L Lui (Lima 72).
Scores: First half: 5-0 Corry try,
7-0 Wilkinson con, 10-0 Wilkinson dg, 10-3
Crichton pen, 10-6 Crichton pen, 13-6
Wilkinson pen, 16-6 Wilkinson pen, 21-6
Sackey try, 23-6 Wilkinson con, 23-9
Crichton pen, 23-12 Crichton pen.
Second half: 23-15 Crichton pen, 26-15,
Wilkinson pen, 26-20 Polu try, 26-22
Crichton con, 29-22 Wilkinson dg, 32-22
Wilkinson pen, 37-22 Corry try, 39-22
Wilkinson con, 44-22 Sackey try.
PAUL ACKFORD -
Sunday Telegraph | Sunday, 23 September 2007
|
Comment on this article |
