ENGLAND
15. Mike Brown: 7.5
Two assists and a try are the statistics, although there was more to the story of his game than that. Finished an easy try but butchered another one with the line at his mercy, but his pop pass inside to May for his first try was a thing of real beauty.
14. Anthony Watson: 7
Looked dangerous when he got the ball but was never quite allowed to get away from the Samoan defence. Gave a lovely offload to Brown for his try.
13. Brad Barritt: 5.5
Another week, another anonymous performance in attack from Barritt. Used as a strike runner on occasion for another week in a row, but simply doesn’t have the physical capabilities to make an impact.
12. Owen Farrell: 5
Gave a nice no-look pass to Ford in the build-up to May’s first try, but other than that there was little to shout about. Made his tackles but also failed to capitalise on an easy overlap early on after crabbing across the pitch.
11. Jonny May: 7.5
A brace of tries that included a superb finish after Mike Brown’s slightly dubious-looking pop pass. Easily the quickest player England have had available for some time.
10. George Ford: 8.5
Even in horrible positions and with those around him not necessarily firing, Ford still managed to look dangerous almost every time he got the ball. Always carried the ball to the gainline before releasing men outside him. Injected zip into the England attack for the first time this autumn.
9. Ben Youngs: 6.5
Formed a nice partnership with Ford, but there were a few ineffective box kicks that better counter-attacking sides might have punished. Probably did enough to keep his spot for next week.
1. Joe Marler: 7
Excellent scrummaging and impressive defence including an eye-catching hit behind the gainline in the second half.
2. Rob Webber: 7
Fell off a couple of tackles but deserves commendation for the line-out running well. Overall more positive than negative, although expect Hartley to return for Australia.
3. Dave Wilson: 7.5
Munched his opposite number in the scrum, forcing penalty after penalty. Made all of his tackles to complete a solid evening’s work (one horrible, loopy pass in the first half aside).
4. Dave Attwood: 7
Showed beautiful hands in the build-up to May’s second try under intense pressure from quick Samoan line speed. Useful line-out option and part of a pack that dominated, although will be disappointed to knock on with the line at his mercy in the dying seconds.
5. Courtney Lawes: 6
Went off with an injury in the second half, but never really had any great impact on proceedings before that.
6. James Haskell: 5.5
Penalty-prone and did not carry the ball a single time all game. Whether he had been told to focus on other things or not, that is a shocking stat – particularly given Tom Wood’s failing in that regard. Solid in defence with 15 tackles, however.
7. Chris Robshaw: 7
Another huge shift, making 20 tackles. There were a few breakdown issues, although he can’t be held solely responsible for that.
8. Ben Morgan: 6.5
As was the case with Vunipola in previous weeks, he was the only England forward to make any meaningful contribution with ball in hand. A couple of handling errors but given the conditions they can be forgiven.
Replacements: 5.5
There were no more points scored after the bench was emptied, which tells its own story. Inaccuracies began to creep back in late on, and one of the most memorable moments of the game was Marland Yarde’s butchering of an easy overlap after Samoa had committed their whole team to bizarre lineout move. It rather summed up England’s attacking woes this autumn. On the plus side, Twelvetrees looked lively on his return to the international side.
SAMOA
15. Ken Pisi: 7
There were a few muddled lines and poor positional decisions, but then he doesn’t normally play fullback. Comfortably Samoa’s most dangerous attacking player.
14. Alapati Leiua: 5.5
Didn’t see much of the ball and couldn’t stretch his legs enough to finish what would have been a well-deserved try for Samoa in the closing exchanges.
13. Rey Lee-Lo: 6
Tough to remember a meaningful contribution from Lee-Lo. Made his tackles but wasn’t troubled unduly by his opposite number.
12. Johnny Leota: 6
If, by the letter of the law, he deserved his yellow card the general feeling was he was unlucky, as it looked a well-timed tackle that just slipped up off Ford’s shoulder.
11. David Lemi: 6.5
Always willing, always passionate, Lemi’s performance summed up the drive and desire in the Samoan team. Missing a yard of pace from a few years back but still has a dangerous step.
10. Tusi Pisi: 5
Missed a sitter at the posts in the first half and his influence on the game dwindled alarmingly after the first half an hour.
9. Kahn Fotuali’i: 7
A typically live-wire performance from the Northampton Saint, who kept Samoa’s tempo consistently high.
1. Zak Taulafo: 4.5
A couple of powerful bursts but he was, for the most part, murdered in the scrums by Wilson.
2. Ti’i Paulo: 5
The Clermont man struggled with his lineout throwing, which deprived Samoa of a consistently reliable attacking platform.
3. Census Johnstone: 5
Like Taulafo, he had an uncomfortable evening at the set-piece and didn’t really use any of his sizeable ballast in the loose.
4. Filo Paulo: 6
A couple of nice offloads but mostly a quiet game for the big lock. Struggled in the lineout.
5. Kane Thompson: 5
Conceded three penalties, which invited pressure onto his side when they didn’t need it. Had similar lineout issues to Paulo.
6. Maurie Fa’asavalu: 6.5
Carried the ball 16 times, which, although they weren’t always successful, put Haskell’s lack of doing so into sharp perspective. Was guilty of giving away a few silly penalties.
7. Jack Lam: 6
Another willing ball-carrier but another who couldn’t really impose himself on the game.
8. Ofisa Treviranus: 7.5
Hands down the most effective ball-carrier on the pitch. Always made yards when he got the ball, and there were a couple of big hits to speak of too – although he was one of many guilty of falling off a couple of tackles too.
Replacements: 6.5
None could really affect the game, although replacement hooker Manu Leiataua caught the eye with a strong carry.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
All in all fair, BUT the contradictions here – ‘Mike Brown – his pop pass inside to May for his first try was a thing of real beauty.’ and here – ‘Jonny May – a superb finish after Mike Brown’s slightly dubious-looking pop pass.’ It was definitely forward IMO, but you should make your mind up ;)
Ford HAS to start next week with either Eastmond or 36 outside him.
Agreed Ford must start next week. 11 matches left he should stay their.
Although Farrell has been slated for his performance at 12, Ford has openly said that it was Farrell that spotted the space and called the cross field kick that led to Brown’s try (though it was a peach of a kick). Indeed, Ford has said that 2 of the tries scored were Farrell’s doing.
A few points come to mind…firstly, would Ford have made those decisions/spotted that space had Farrell not been there? Secondly, though Farrell’s performance was less than perfect, it is generally agreed that he is just off form and begs the question should England now try and maintain consistency and work on Farrell.
Now there’s two ways of looking at that…Chris Ashton was off form for a long time, Lancaster stuck with him as he trusted he would find form, which we all know he didn’t. I also remember, however, the Wales’ Alex Cuthbert was out of form for a while, with people calling for him to be axed. Gatland stuck with him and he is now performing.
For me consistency is key and I feel panic is starting to set in with the England back room staff hence all the changes in midfield.
Perhaps it is now time to shift focus to the next World Cup, get centres in place now with a view to developing them for then.
Let’s get a bit of perspective here. This was a Samoa game, so always the one where SL & Co. were going to risk mixing it up a bit. Also England’s nailed-on first choice 13 is crocked. So, despite it being less than a year before the RWC, I think it’s a bit premature to be over-using the word “consistency”, and bringing in words like “panic”…
I feel a bit for Barrett (he’s a world quality back on his day), but you do get the feeling he’s just being stuck in to make up the numbers as we await the return of the Auckland Harbour Swimmer.
Of course none of this answers any questions about the 12 shirt…! I still rate 36 there. He was a pretty good impact sub on Sat and has the experience. 10 – give Ford another start against the Aussies, and cement the starting XV before the 6 Nations (when hopefully we’ll have a raft of players back from injury!)
A bit premature perhaps for the word “panic” but not “consistency”.
At fly half we’ve seen the likes of Hodgson, Farrell, Burns, Cipriani, Myler and now Ford. On the wings we’ve seen Ashton, Nowell, May, Brown, Goode, Yarde, Roko, Watson and even Tuilagi. Scrum half we’ve flipped between Care, Youngs and Dickson and in the centres of course we’ve seen Barritt, Tuilagi (who, fair enough had it not been for injury would start every game), Farrell, Tomkins, Twelvetrees, Eastmond, JJ etc etc etc.
If you look at any half decent side you have your nailed on starters in certain positions; Wales: North, Cuthbert, Roberts and Davies. Where are Wales struggling? Half back. Why? Because the personnel keep changing…the one exception to this rule being New Zealand I suppose who seem to have a conveyer belt of talent in every position.
I’d like to just see us maintain some level of consistency and allow the team to gel, as others have, rather than having knee jerk reactions all the time.
Marks for the coaches? why do I get the nasty feeling that SL is going to be our “Eddie O’Sullivan”. Always perennially falling short.
Seems the front row have been pretty consistent, strong in the set piece, but would need to offer more ball in hand to score higher. Largely the same for the second row, but I feel that Eng have the edge over Aus in the tight 5.
No difference from previous games in the back row. No 8 makes vast majority of the metres for whole pack. Vunipola did look tired in the first 2 tests, but perhaps the issue doesn’t lie with the guy in the 8 shirt but those around him?
Speaks volumes that a score of 6.5 for Youngs is enough to warrant a starting place in next weeks team. Should be a real cause for concern given how important a position scrum half is.
Ford simply must start against Australia, they are probably the least physical of the teams Eng will face this autumn, I’ve seen enough of Ford playing without Farrell to know that he can do it without him, so I would go for Eastmond at 12, a club partnership and a genuine attacking threat.
I would imagine Barritt hasn’t let anyone down, I wasn’t expecting him to offer anything in attack and he has duly obliged. If someone else is picked in his place, they MUST perform well in defence, as it would be all too easy to revert back to Barritt if Eng come unstuck.
Back 3 looking good, will really be tested by Aus, but I think they will be wary of our pace on the wings.
I think it’s worth the risk to rebuild ourselves around George Ford instead of Farrell in 10. With Farrell it becomes a hugely forward based game, that our backs while they were times they did do something, don’t really have much to work from.
I really liked Fords high ball for Brown which is better instead of watching brown having to kick himself and catch it, but really feel it will be tested against Folau.
Haskell really did not play well which i found disappointing, but Woods pretty much got himself a couple of penalty himself, feel that Woods place is guaranteed now.
The whole pack carried only 31 times between them (in comparison to over 60 times vs the boks). Would have been nice for Haskell to carry, but he was doing a huge amount of good work in the breakdown, and probably the only forward really taking to Samoa, put in a few momentum stopping tackles too. He gave away 1 penalty, not bad for an openside (which is where he was playing, regardless of the number on his back (watch the scrums)). He was near enough to matching Robshaws tackle rate too at the time he came off.
The penalty he did give away, the ref told him hands away, he raised his hands and took them away immediately, ref then decided 2 seconds later that it was still in fact a penalty.
And perhaps it’s important to point out that Wood came on and gave 2 penalties (one extremely brainless) in just 13 minutes on the pitch.