Key events
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TRY! England 92-3 Samoa (MacDonald, 80)
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TRY! England 85-3 Samoa (Breach, 74)
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TRY! England 80-3 Samoa (M Packer, 71)
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TRY! England 75-3 Samoa (Rowland, 65)
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TRY! England 66-3 Samoa (Carson, 61)
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TRY! England 61-3 Samoa (Breach, 54)
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TRY! England 54-3 Samoa (Clifford, 49)
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Penalty! England 47-3 Samoa (Vatau, 44)
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Half-time: England 47-0 Samoa
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TRY! England 47-0 Samoa (L Packer, 34)
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TRY! England 40-0 Samoa (Davies, 30)
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TRY! England 33-0 Samoa (Feaunati, 24)
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TRY! England 26-0 Samoa (Jones, 17)
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TRY! England 21-0 Samoa (Bern, 14)
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TRY! England 14-0 Samoa (Breach, 8)
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TRY! England 7-0 Samoa (Jones, 4)
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Samoa team
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England team
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Preamble
TRY! England 92-3 Samoa (MacDonald, 80)
The cherry on the top! England refused to let that end in failure and they get their final score. It was sparked by Harrison’s grubber and Breach’s tenacious chase. They somehow won the ball back and then fizzed through the hands down the left. The final pass was a little ropey but MacDonald reached out, plucked it from the air and kept her feet to slide over in the corner. Rowland makes a difficult conversion from the left look easy.
79 min: It’s taken nearly all game but we finally see Foaese run hard and straight and over a tackler. But Samoa lose the ball so England have one final shot to score again. Galligan to MacDonald who tries to off-load but can’t. Packer has it. Harrison from first receiver grubbers ahead. Breach keeps it alive…
76 min: England aren’t done. They’re giving the ball air every chance they get. Samoa look dead on their feet. The final whistle can’t come soon enough but they’ll have to scrum as an English attack down the left ends with a knock on. Rowland is rightly named player of the match. Will she get one more chance to take a shot at goal? Samoa have the scrum feed down their right inside their own half.
TRY! England 85-3 Samoa (Breach, 74)
BREACH HAS HER HAT-TRICK! Another quickly taken penalty – Hunt has injected serious pace since coming one – has the ball flying to Breach on the right wing. Is there a better winger at standing up a defender before finding an edge? Maybe, but today’s she’s had magic in her boots. Once she gets the ball she makes Wright-Akeli look like a mannequin, squaring up the tackler and motoring round the corner to slide over. Rowland has lost her radar and can’t convert from the right tram.
72 min: Samoa come up with a great steal and penalty inside their own 22 on their right. It was in response to a quickly taken penalty from Hunt who found Sing who found Harrison. It was a lovely move from the English but Pauaraisa was sharp and got her body over the ball for a swift jackal.
TRY! England 80-3 Samoa (M Packer, 71)
The skipper is over! England’s scrum powers forward giving Hunt the option to go left or right down the blind. Instead it’s Feaunati who picks up off the back of the set piece and carries down the right. She busts a tackle about two metres short. From there it’s a question of who, not if. It’s Marlie Packer who storms over from close range. Rowland can’t quite land the conversion from the right.
69 min: England are looking to up the tempo late on. Samoa continue to scramble and force the ball loose, but there’s a Samoan knock on. England have the scrum bang on the 22. They go right looking for Breach. Once again Samoa knock-on in the tackle. England get another scrum just a little closer to the line and a little further to the right.
68 min: England take a line-out quickly with Hunt hacking it upfield. It’s a messy set that started with Samoa doing nothing with the ball and ends with England having the line-out just beyond Samoa’s 22.
TRY! England 75-3 Samoa (Rowland, 65)
Rowland bags a try in the corner! She deserves that. it started with a poor set from Samoa off their own line out, forcing the knock on. Then England pounced, moving the ball at pace to the left wing. MacDonald got round an edge and found Sing back on the inside to keep the move alive. Sing was tackled short but Rowland was in support, picking up and dotting down the corner. To emphasise her class she nails the tough conversion from out wide.
64 min: England turn the ball over, they work it down the short side on the right and find Breach. The winger stands up a defender, puts the after burners on and starts tearing down the right tram. it’s wonderful! What a run! Oh no! her foot touches the line. No matter, Samoa cough up possession from the subsequent line-out so England fly down the line towards MacDonald on the left wing. She pops it back inside for Sing and they’re a metre short…
63 min: Ah-Cheung makes the mistake of running straight at Muir and gets drilled in the tackle. But Samoa have a penalty on halfway and kick it out. It’s a poor kick, barely making any ground. They’ll have the line-out just 10 metres inside England’s turf.
TRY! England 66-3 Samoa (Carson, 61)
Samoa make a mess of their line-out and pay the price! Burton gobbled up the loose throw and Lucy Packer was up in support in a flash, fizzing the pass towards her big ball carriers. She found Carson on the charge and there was no stopping the prop from right in front. Rowland adds two more points to her tally.
59 min: England’s fresh front row win a scrum penalty at the first time of asking. It’s right in front of the poles but beyond the 22. She chooses to kick to the corner and lands it perfectly! What a touch finer. She’s put that about five out so England get a line-out and a chance to maul. They blow it! Campbell’s throw is not straight. Samoa choose to throw rather than scrum. Five out from their own line.
57 min: Samoa hold the ball up over their try line. Solid defence. The clearing drop kick doesn’t make a huge amount of ground so England are back. But Rowland spills a bad pass near her ankles. Samoa have the scrum feed but England have a new front row who came on in one go.
55 min: Sing, who has made a few mistakes, thumps Fiafia into touch with a bone shuddering hit. In a flash England are steaming down the field from a line-out, making ground down the left. They spill it, but there’s a late hit from a Samoan on Carson so England get a soft penalty just beyond Samoa’s 22 on the right. Rowland nudges it to the corner.
TRY! England 61-3 Samoa (Breach, 54)
So slick from England! When even props are unfurling off-loads in contact you know you’re not dealing with an ordinary team. Clifford, after several big carries and canters from teammates, had the ball on the gallop, rode the tackle but managed to get a perfect pass away for the onrushing Breach. After a shaky start to the second half, England are purring once more.
53 min: Rowland hammers a clearing kick from the restart. Wow, she absolutely smoked that. Samoa have to throw from back inside their own half. Galligan rises and gets a hand on it but it comes down on the Samoan side. The underdogs don’t do anything don;t do anything with it and kick a nothing kick ahead. England are coming back at them….
TRY! England 54-3 Samoa (Clifford, 49)
That’s the difference between the best and the rest. When England get a chance to score, they do so. From the line-out, Rowland showed quick feet to wrong-foot the defence and make ground. They went down the short side on the left, Burton combined with Breach for a slick one-two. Then Galligan came close before Clifford picked up and burrowed over under the poles. Rowland slots the easy extras.
47 min: Samoa are playing with an advantage having made about 30 metres from the scrum. Great ball handling, great carrying. This is fantastic! There’s a quick tap from Afuie the scrum-half and now they’re 10 metres out. They go left from under the poles with prop Aiolupotea winning the contact. AAAH! But that’s a sensational steal from captain Packer close to her own line. Sloppy from Samoa. They slacked off and Packer is too good to miss out on that steal. Perhaps Samoa could have gone right when they went left, but that’s said in retrospect. Still, vast improvements from the first half. England need to switch on here. They’ll get things going again with a line-out near halfway.
45 min: What was in the half-time drinks? Samoa are robust from the restart and free the ball for Vatau to clear with a kick. Sing is under it but knocks on. So Samoa have another scrum inside England’s half. Five minutes into the second stanza and it’s been one way traffic.
Penalty! England 47-3 Samoa (Vatau, 44)
Samoa have their first points of the World Cup! A solid thump from the swinging boot of Vatau sees the ball fly through the poles. What a wonderful moment.
43 min: Samoa celebrate as if they’ve just scored a try! They haven’t, but they’ve won a scrum penalty against England’s ball. Wow! What a moment. England got a shove on but didn’t anticipate a counter shove. Soon they were going backwards and spiralling. Samoa ask for the tee and point to the poles.
42 min: Samoa get a scrum feed inside England’s patch. This time the ball moves swiftly out the back but Makisi in midfield knocks on in contact.
The half-time chat is over. The players are out and ready to get going again.
What I don’t love is Sonja McLaughlan asking AMy Cokayne “feels sorry for the Samoans”.
I get that this is a match between pros and amateurs, but feeling sorry for the opposition in a World Cup? Sorry, that’s just yuck.
Did anyone ask this question when Australia beat Namibia 142-0 at the men’s World Cup in 2003? or when the All Blacks beat Japan 145-17 in 1995? I doubt it.
Well done to Cokayne who shot that right down.
Ruby Tui has just asked Chloe Kelly if she knows what a “goosey” is.
I can’t express how much I love that.
While you’re here, read this cracking interview the Black Fern legend had with Sarah Rendell:
Half-time: England 47-0 Samoa
That went exactly how we thought it would go. England just too good. Simple as that. Even when Samoa scrambled England found a way to score. Even when Samoa came close to scoring themselves the English counter rucked and tackled like the professionals they are. Surely a century will be the target from here.
39 min: AAAAAH! Samoa come within a metre of scoring! What a passage of play from them. They managed to get the ball out the back of the scrum under immense pressure then they rampaged forward. Fiafia on the right wing. Vatau from the inside channel, sitting down Sing with a mighty carry. Then the replacement prop Iosefo monstered over the gainline. They kept flooding forward. It was wonderful. It was thrilling. It came to nothing as they ran out of puff and couldn’t resists a great counter ruck from the English and gave away the ball within sight of their first point in the World Cup.
35 min: England look like scoring with every carry. Wright-Akeli gathers a kick in the back field and punts it out. Another line-out for England inside Samoan territory. But the women in blue get themselves together and manage to wrestle the ball back from the maul, preventing Packer from getting her hands on it. So Samoa get the scrum feed in their own patch. They celebrate, as they should. Can they get the ball out of the scrum this time?
TRY! England 47-0 Samoa (L Packer, 34)
Sneaky from the scrummy! From the line-out England kept hammering the line. They came close twice but couldn’t get there. Not until Lucy Packer spotted a bit of daylight between the Samoan defence and the try line. She picked up and dotted down from close range. Rowland lands the extras.
32 min: England spill the restart but it doesn’t hurt them as their scrum once again wins the ball back from Samoa. Lucy Packer kicks ahead after getting the ball. Samoa mop up and run it up the guts of England but they give up a soft line-out as they kick it out having brought it back into their 22. England will have the throw about 14 metres out. Samoa make a change in the front row. Samuelu gets the hook after struggling in the scrum.
TRY! England 40-0 Samoa (Davies, 30)
Maul try! Sound the klaxon, England have shoved over a try from that potent weapon of theirs. Just too strong, too cohesive, too powerful. Samoa had no answer. Rowland ensures that England will at least have as many points as first half minutes with a very well taken conversion from the left.
28 min: Has Jones socred her hat-trick? Shekells kicked a grubber ahead. Jones ran onto it and kicked it herself. Then both players seemed to leave it for the other. NO TRY! By the time Jones dotted it down she was ahead of Shekells. How have they messed that up? It came off off a wonderful move following a stiff maul from a line-out that won a penalty. So we’ll come back for that as Rowland nudges to the corner.
26 min: From the restart England choose to keep the ball and run it from deep rather than kick. Through the hands, left to right and MacDonald has it in the right tram. She lines up her defender, tries to stand her up but spills the ball in contact. Samoa have a scrum inside English territory. Can they get the ball out the back and play with it? No. The scrum goes straight down and it’s an England penalty.
TRY! England 33-0 Samoa (Feaunati, 24)
From a Samoan try, England score! As soon as the ball went in the English pack went forward, wheeling around their Samoan counterparts and pushing them backwards. At the base of the scrum Feaunati kept the ball under control with some nifty footwork and waited until it crossed the line to fall on it. Slick work there. Once again Rowland makes the easy conversion from right in front.
23 min: Vatua spills the ball five metres from her own line! She watched on as her teammates in the scrum were pushed backwards by the English pack. Now England get the feed. They look certain to score but outstanding scrambling defence from the Samoans keeps them at bay. How did Hunt not score there?! They have another chance to score with Jones hitting a superb line but she juggles and knocks on under pressure in front of the poles. A little loose from the English. That all ends with a Samoan scrum in the shade of their own sticks.
20 min: Rowland skews a kick so Samoa get a chance to keep the ball from a line-out on halfway. They do so with prop Samuelu making good ground. But England’s defence is robust and seven phases later Samoa have gone backwards. Then there’s a massive counter ruck and England win a penalty on the floor. Ruthless from the Red Roses. Rowland doesn’t skew this kick. She drills it into the corner so England will get a chance to maul from about 12 metres out. But the line-out isn’t straight! Let off the for Samoa.
TRY! England 26-0 Samoa (Jones, 17)
England have gone from coast to coast! That is a try straight from the restart. Galligan gathered the Samoan drop-kick. From there it went through the hands with Burton busting over the gainline. MacDonald down the left wing made about 40 metres on her own and off-loaded to Sing in support. They retained possession, showed slick skills with swift passing before Jones joined the line and the angle, finding an edge to score in the right corner. This time Rowland can’t convert from the tram.
TRY! England 21-0 Samoa (Bern, 14)
Powered over! They were not going to be denied. Pure strength from Bern who picked up about two metres short of the line and barrelled over with a low body like a torpedo. Rowland, from right in front, nudges over the extras.
14 min: England win another penalty from the scrum. Campion carries and is nailed. But Samoa weren’t five metres back so England, after spilling the ball, get another shot with a free-kick.
12 min: Shekells is running the show. Rowland feeds her from the front-foot and the midfielder hacks a grubber ahead. It’s well placed but the Samoan fullback Wright-Akeli shoots round to clean it up. But she’s swarmed by three women in white and gives up a scrum after failing to free the ball. England will have the feed about 10 metres out with a short blindside on the left.
11 min: Shekells is having a top game. She played the final pass for Breach’s try and is again stitching things together in midfield. There’s a high tackle – again – as England look to keep the ball after the restart so they have a clearing penalty kick that finds touch over halfway.
TRY! England 14-0 Samoa (Breach, 8)
Jess Breach scores her 50th try for England and it’s a banger! The scrum monsters Samoa’s pack. Hunt picks up the ball and chooses to go right. There are only two runners on that side but one of them is winger Breach who stands up her tackler, shifts her weight and accelerates towards the line. Devastating running from the try machine. Rowland, from way out right, squeezes the conversion in off the post.
7 min: England go from right to left as MacDonald has the ball on the front foot down the left wing. They’re building through the phases until Pouri-Lane comes up with a mighty steal for Samoa. But they can’t turn possession into territory as they soon knock the ball one just beyond their own 22. England will have the scrum feed in line with the posts, they’ve got options left and right.
5 min: England had trouble from restarts last week. No trouble this time as Rowland gathers a long kick and punts it out on halfway. They’ll have the ball back as an audacious long throw from a Samoan line-out is very, very skew.
TRY! England 7-0 Samoa (Jones, 4)
Inevitable. England look so comfortable on the ball. They’re able to take the hits, absorb the tacklers and wait for the moment to strike. Bern barged over a tackler to get the go-forward. Then her fellow prop Clifford was hit on a great run, she delayed her pass for Jones on the angle and the centre had an easy run to the try from about 20 metres back. The conversion is good.
3 min: Sing gathers a long kick and runs it back. England keep the ball after Sing cops a big hit. It’s a little loose but Breach mops up in the right tram. There’s a high hit so England are playing under an advantage. Shekells shifts it on from midfield towards the left. bern carries well. Into the 22…
1 min: It’s a very wet outfield. Samoa field the kick-off and Vatua clears. England run it back before Samoa kick again. It’s out for an early England throw inside Samoan territory on the right. Shekells runs it hard and makes ground before the ball is spilled. Samoa have it back.
Right then. Referee Maggie Cogger-Orr stands with authority. She raises her whistle to her lips, gives it a shrill blast, Helena Rowland drops the ball, hoofs it into the Northampton skies and we are underway!
The anthems are ringing out. These are incredible scenes. The stadium is absolutely packed!
Apparently Samoa were training with a boombox blasting at full volume, just so their players could get used to the noise. Not sure they’ve ever expereinced anything like this.
I just hope they don’t catch stage fright. A few wet eyes among the women in blue as they sing their anthem. Lovely stuff.
The players are making their way out of the tunnel.
Time enough for a word from the Samoan defence coach Fuimaono Bella Milo:
We had a pretty brutal review on Sunday (after losing 73-0 to Australia) and think the girls really took that in. They were upset about the way they performed, so we had a lot of honest conversations about the way we prepared and the way we turned up. We thought we had a lot better second half, so we’re trying to take the positives out of that and move it into this week’s game.
When you’ve got 32 players that have never played in a World Cup, going out in the front of a crowd of 10,000, that’s something we haven’t experienced. Playing England at home is going to be huge, and I hear there’s going to be a big crowd.
We’re really looking to focus on our defence, trying to stop their first-phase attack then getting our systems round the corner. In terms of attack, we’re just working on hold onto the ball. If we can onto the ball, our big ball carriers can get into the game.
Marlie Packer skippers today, playing in her fourth World Cup [insert Peep Show meme here].
As you’d expect, she’s pumped for this one”
Me and Meg Jones have massively stepped up this week. We’ve just been there to support Zoe [Aldcroft – the injured squad captain] in whatever she needs, but she’s also been doing the same for us in training today. Me, her and Meg caught up after the session today, just talking about a couple of little bits we want to work on as a group in how we want to be perceived, so we’re still just doing our roles as normal.
I was fortunate enough to be water girl (in the opening match v USA). It was a very special occasion and one that I know will live with us for ever. We’re now just looking forward to taking the field this week.
England’s coach John Mitchell is calling for consistency today.
He’s also in a philosophical mood:
Firstly, we’re not going to get bored around being consistent and as much as we got the right result last week, we have standards to uphold, so the girls get challenged occasionally on standards because we’ve got to keep growing.
Ultimately, I think the biggest challenge for the girls on the weekend will be we’re going to get space, we’re going to find it, we’re going to attack it, but we’re going to have to be patient with our execution in that space because we might get a little bit more space than normal. Sometimes you can fall into the trap of fool’s gold, and try and get too loose too early, so that’ll be the biggest challenge with this combination.
In a world where listening and understanding is difficult in the way that we live life, I think I learned the other day that listening’s dropped by about 20 per cent in the last 15 years. On average people listen for 8.25 seconds, so I think we’d rather focus on us trying to understand what we’re doing and making sure that lands in the week.
This is a great piece from Andy Bull.
The standout line: “It’s a sign a sport has matured that everyone involved is able to be honest about what everyone’s watching, instead of celebrating the simple fact that so many people are.”
Canada made light work of Wales.
Read our report here:
Samoa team
The Samoans, nicknamed the Manusina after the white tern found across the archipelago, are an eclectic bunch.
Among the ranks there is a primary school teacher, a nurse, a police officer and a roofer. They’ve had to fundraise simply to take part in the World Cup. In truth, they stand little chance of an upset.
But they’ll compete with pride. And if they can get their number eight Nina Foaese on the ball they’ll cause the English defence some problems.
There’s little expectation which gives them licence to go out and enjoy what could be the best day of their rugby lives, playing in front of a packed stadium, testing themselves against a squad of professionals. A couple of tries and some big tackles will live long in the memory.
Samoa: Karla Wright-Akeli; Davina Lasini, Keilamarita Pouri Lane, Fausa Makisi, Linda Fiafia, Harmony Vatau, Ana Afuie; Denise Ailupotea, Faith Nonutunu, Glory Aiono Samuelu, Christabelle Onesemo, Demielle Onesemo, Utumalam Atonio, Sui Tausa Pauaraisa (c), Nina Foaese.
Replacements: Cathy Lulu Leuta, Ti Tauasosi, Tori Iosefo, Analise Sio, Madisen-Jade Iva, Saelua Leaula, Taytana Pati Ah Cheung, Michelle Curry.
England team
The Red Roses will have to navigate the rest of the group stage without their skipper, Zoe Aldcroft.
The talismanic lock sustained a knee injury in the opening night win over the USA and joins Emily Scarratt (shoulder) and Holly Aitchison (ankle) on the injury list.
Marlie Packer makes her first appearance of the tournament this afternoon and is one of 13 changes to the team that opened the account last Friday. The 35-year-old battering ram will captain the team in her fourth World Cup campaign.
Megan Jones keeps her place at outside centre having played all 80 minutes against the Eagles and partners Jade Shekels in midfield. Helena Rowland gets a chance to show her stuff at fly-half.
England: Emma Sing; Jess Breach, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, Megan Jones, Jade Shekells, Helena Rowland, Lucy Packer; Kelsey Clifford, Lark Atkin-Davies, Sarah Bern, Lilli Ives Campion, Rosie Galligan, Abi Burton, Marlie Packer (c), Maddie Feaunati.
Replacements: May Campbell, MacKenzie Carson, Maud Muir, Morwenna Talling, Sadia Kabeya, Natasha Hunt, Zoe Harrison, Ellie Kildunne.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
There isn’t a more dominant team in any sport than the Red Roses.
If you know of a bigger gap between first and second in any other ecosystem I’m all ears. The simple truth is that England should win this World Cup at a canter. That is not meant to be disrespectful to the other teams. It’s just recognising the financial, emotional and cultural investment in the women’s game by the RFU and how, across every metric, they’ve left their competitors in their dust.
Our correspondent on the ground, Sarah Rendell, has said that a Samoan victory today would be “one of the biggest ever upsets”. She’s under selling it. It would be THE BIGGEST upset in any sport ever.
That doesn’t mean that England should go out there and play in second gear. Despite the 69-7 scoreline in their opening win over USA, they weren’t perfect. A flawless show here this afternoon would underline the team’s supremacy.
A win won’t do. A bonus point won’t do. Even a cricket score won’t do. What England need is an 80 minute performance where things click, where shapes form on attack and systems function as they should on defence. Line-outs, mauls and scrums need to thrum with mechanical efficiency. Kicks and passes need to land where they’re aimed.
Will it all come together? We’ll find out when things get going at 5pm BST in Northampton.
Teams, updates and other bits to come.
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