Read Paul Rees’s match report from Twickenham:
All the reaction from Twickenham will be upon us shortly, but until then, join me for Wales v New Zealand in Cardiff:
Some initial reaction from Eddie Jones. “We didn’t do the small things well enough and it cost us a few points out there,” the England coach says. “Our second man was a bit slow and up until now it’s been very good – it’s just one of those things. It’s a great learning experience for all of those guys, who will go back to their clubs tomorrow. I thought Elliot Daly was superb, George Ford controlled things at No10 and Simmonds did well out No8.”
Full-time result: England 48-14 Samoa
Ford can’t put the icing on the cake but, by the end, that was pretty comprehensive from Eddie Jones’s side.
Try! England 48-14 Samoa (Rokoduguni, 80 mins)
How about that? England upped the ante and the winger does the simple bit after a wonderful sweeping move, with Slade and Ford both involved.
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Try! England 41-14 Samoa (Daly, 78 mins)
... England will! A superb try from Elliot Daly, who after a flurry of passes, jinks past five Samoans before opening up his legs, and driving under the posts. Brilliant stuff, and the simplest of conversions from the boot of George Ford follows for 43-14.
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75 mins Who will score next? Can England add a sixth try at Twickenham?
Try! England 36-12 Samoa (Vui, 73 mins)
And the TMO verdict is that there was no problem at all, after Chris Vui squeezed in to touch down. Bristol have caused England a few problems today. And they get the conversion too. England 36-14 ...
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72 mins Just as England are cruising, Samoa fly forward from the lineout and may well have themselves a try here. We go to the TMO ...
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71 mins And Ford converts, to send England into a 36-7 lead.
Try! England 34-7 Samoa (Slade, 70 mins)
A massive gap opens up as Ben Youngs fizzes through the pass and Henry Slade, unopposed, glides through to touch down. Meanwhile, a sin-bin for Piula Faasalele, for his illegal work at the breakdown.
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67 mins Mike Brown is smothered by TJ Ioane and his England team-mates are too slow to help him. Samoa, defensively, have been much quicker. A word too on Isiekwe, who was born in 1998 ...
66 mins The referee, Andrew Brace, wants a word after Samoa’s persistent bodies popping up around the back of the scrum. Up in the stands, the gloves are on for Eddie Jones.
65 mins So, Jones had talked up the importance of the final 20 minutes and, even though this surely won’t require a masterclass of any kind, it will be interesting to see Hartley’s impact on this one.
64 mins Here he comes ... Dylan Hartley is on, to take over captain’s duties and replace Jamie George. Charlie Ewels is off and on comes Nick Isiekwe, the 19-year-old Saracen.
62 mins Ford converts from a tricky angle and England go into a 29-7 lead.
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Try! England 27-7 Samoa (Daly, 61 mins)
Harry Williams takes a hit from Jack Lam, who has been a monster out there for Samoa. He and Marler then have another go, before Daly meets a Ford weighted pass and crosses the line. It was not flash but it was slick.
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58 mins Rokoguduni lights up the match, with the winger almost conjuring up something. He grinds to a halt once the ball runs out of touch for a lineout. Much of this second half has been bogged down around halfway. It’s gone a little flat.
56 mins England ring the changes: Harry Williams for Dan Cole, Piers Francis come in for Alex Lozowski and Ben Youngs replaces Danny Care. The latter has been busy, and on another day, could have had a couple of tries to his name.
54 mins Danny Care and Chris Robshaw, club-mates and England team-mates combine neatly and suddenly they are hunting down the posts. But just as Itoje takes hold, Samoa get back at them, and Jack Lam does brilliantly to intercept at the breakdown.
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52 mins A superb driving maul gets England – at last – back into the Samoa 22, but the visitors stand firm to win a scrum. And England have nothing to show for their efforts, as Samoa once more turnover at the breakdown. Elsewhere, Scotland have beaten 14-man Australia 53-24 at Murrayfield.
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50 mins England could do with upping the pace here. After another water break, during which the water boy Owen Farrell dished out some advice to his team-mates, England have gone a little stale. They need to turn territory into points. Easy, right?
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49 mins Semesa Rokoduguni is on in place of Jonny May, for the head assessment period at least.
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47 mins It’s just not quite happening for England out there at the moment, and Danny Care is getting frustrated. He’s scarcely been short of invention this afternoon, but his clever kick over the top hurries into touch before anyone can latch on to it.
46 mins Joe Marler replaces Ellis Genge, as Jones opts to tweak personnel.
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44 mins Dan Cole does well to stand up tall and grab the ball away from Samoa. The Leicester Tigers man duly carries the ball forwards and England gain ground. He is the rock England continue to build their front row around.
42 mins Jonny May kickstarts a counterattack, who break with Mike Brown. He goes through the man, dummies but just as Care is ready to dash through and collect, the ball slips through Lozowski’s fingers. Ah.
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41 mins Samoa get us under way in the second half. The first period was a fast, frenetic and physical fare.
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Half-time England 22-7 Samoa
And that’s that. Eddie Jones’s side have not had it all their own way, that’s for certain.
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39 mins A collision between the props, Cole and Genge but they’re both alright. England are pushing for a fourth try before the break ...
38 mins England are simply making too many errors, they’re trying to force it too often. Samoa are really throwing men in to rip into Jones’s youthful side and they have had of steals in the past few minutes to win back possession too. Now Daly’s superb kick gets England back in charge ...
35 mins A replay of that crunching challenge on Mike Brown makes almost painful viewing. Brown does not go down, though, and England are eking towards half-time.
34 mins Simmonds and then Ewels carry the ball before Samoa again turnover. It drops straight to Mike Brown, who takes a hit before Henry Slade drives forward ...
33 mins Samoa turn over the England lineout after Itoje’s initial take, but are penalised for a knock-on. England have a scrum within touching distance of the try-line.
31 mins Joe Launchbury has been replaced by Courtney Lawes after taking one in the head. He looks a little battered and bruised on the touchline. England have suddenly re-discovered their groove. They have a penalty well within kicking range. The co-captains have a quick debate before electing for Ford to kick into touch.
Try! England 20-7 Samoa (Ewels, 29 mins)
Jamie George and Danny Care were again influential to kickstart the move. Then as Itoje plays the role of the decoy, Charlie Ewels collects to drive over the line to score. Eddie Jones hurries down the steps to celebrate. And Ford’s conversion boosts England’s lead to 15 points.
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26 mins Care looks to break quickly off the scrum but Andrew Brace calls England back. A decent, powerful scrum almost paid dividends, with Simmonds taking charge.
24 mins A meaty scrum ends with Samoa spreading the ball wide to Lemi. Polataivao, the Samoa scrum-half then takes over. But just as Samoa gain territory by Jack Lam, they’re forced to retreat. They go again through Vui, the captain. Lam’s father of course is in charge at Ashton Gate. There are Bristolians everywhere, so to speak ...
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22 mins Slade’s high kick downfield is comfortably dealt with, allowing Samoa to restart an attack. Polataivao tricks his way through the pack before Genge takes hold halfway. Samoa had a dreadful start but they’ve really responded.
20 mins Samoa can count themselves a little unlucky. England get their reprieve because of a knock-on against Vui.
Penalty! England 15-7 Samoa (Ford, 19 mins)
George Ford fires between the sticks, to make it two kicks from three.
16 mins Brilliant play by Jonny May gets the Twickenham crowd back up on their feet. He throws the ball to himself, and jinks past a sea of Samoa shirts before coming unstuck. A magical run. Lozowski and Care then get clattered for their efforts.
14 mins If Samoa made life easy for England for the first try or two, then England have just repaid that favour. Faasalele, the Toulouse flanker, touches down with Samoa’s first foray into the opposition 22. England attempt to get back on the front foot ...
Try! England 12-5 Samoa (Faasalele, 13 mins)
A neat offload allows Piula Faasalele to drive beyond Launchbury and over the line. And suddenly, it’s 12-7 following a simple conversion.
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12 mins Samoa break, with Viu carrying the ball forwards as Charlie Ewels makes a mess of the restart. England switch off and Samoa have a scrum within touching distance of the try line ...
11 mins George Ford scuffs the conversion and Eddie Jones grimaces up in the stands.
Try! England 12-0 Samoa (Lozowski, 10)
Alex Lozowski scores his first international try but that was a gift from Samoa. A missed catch sees Daly in, who holds it up for Jamie George who seeks support from the Exeter fly-half to do the rest. That was all very easy.
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6 mins Itoje does superbly, diving in with both feet to block Samoa from breaking. Job done by the England flanker.
5 mins Samoa now take hold of possession on halfway as a rendition of Swing Home takes hold inside Twickenham.
3 mins It takes an age to get the verdict from Simon McDowell but he finally decides that the try can be given. The ball cannoned off the waist of an England player and it’s a great start. England would have been away once again, after good work by Jamie George, but Mike Brown is penalised for a forward pass. He’s been heavily involved early on here.
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Try! England 5-0 Samoa (Brown, 2 mins)
Referee Andrew Brace goes to the TMO to double check the ball doesn’t move forward from Danny Care before – eventually – confirming England are in front. Ford duly converts to give England an early 7-0 lead at Twickenham.
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Kick-off!
And we’re under way, with a few neat early touches by Lozowski.
The teams are out on the pitch, and we are just a couple of anthems away from kick-off. First there’s a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen, then Samoa’s Siva Tau. Lovely stuff ...
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Andrew Brace is today’s referee, but one of his two assistants is Nigel Owens:
Got my rainbow laces ready to run touch for #EngvSam. All one should expect is to be treated the same. No better no worse, just the same no matter who you are. Inclusivity in rugby. @stonewalluk’s #RainbowLaces campaign! @UnderArmourUK pic.twitter.com/f3YkCrlHcq
— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) November 25, 2017
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England are looking to finish 2017 with a bounce after just one defeat all year – that 13-9 loss to Ireland in the Six Nations. As for Samoa, they will be looking for their first Test win this year.
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Up at Murrayfield, Scotland are under way against Australia, who have just squandered an early penalty. Scotland’s hopes were dampened a little pre-match after Stuart Hogg picked up an injury in the warmup. We’ll keep an eye on that one throughout this afternoon.
So, Dylan Hartley leads the England team into Twickenham for the last time this year. The last time the 31-year-old appeared off the bench at Twickenham was against Samoa, today’s opponents, in 2014. Here’s some essential pre-match reading:
Team news!
England: Brown; May, Slade, Lozowski, Daly; Ford, Care; Genge, George, Cole; Launchbury, Ewels; Itoje, Robshaw, Simmonds
Replacements: Hartley, Marler, Williams, Isiekwe, Lawes, Youngs, Francis, Rokoduguni
Samoa: Tuala, Perez, Fonotia, Leiua, Lemi; Nanai-Williams, Polataivao; Jordan Lay, Matu’u, Brighouse; Tyrell, Vui; Faasalele, Ioane, Lam
Replacements: Leiataua, Jay Lay, Sasagi, Lemalu, Treviranus, Matavao, Lee-Lo, Taulagi
Preamble
To Twickenham, a venue tinged with excitement for the final match of the series following Eddie Jones’s bold team selection, encompassing nine changes. The England captain, Dylan Hartley, has been ditched for this one, with Jones opting to give younger blood a go. Saracens’s Jamie George will fill that particular void at hooker. Ellis Genge, Charlie Ewels and Alex Lozowski have been given the nod too. “This week is an opportunity for some squad members who haven’t been playing to put their best foot forward,” Jones said. Whether ringing the changes will translate to a vibrant, swashbuckling display, who knows? A hard-hitting Samoa, meanwhile, feature seven English-based players in their starting XV, including Bristol’s Chris Vui, who, in the buildup, poured cold water on the idea of his team-mates being given handouts from the England squad, who themselves ruled out possible match-fee donations. “We are solely here to play rugby and it’s not their problem to have to give us money,” he said. “It’s not their fault at all.”
Regardless of personnel changes, England ought to come out of the other end of this match-up with a bit to spare, given they have won all seven previous meetings by a double-figure margin. Better still, England have won 22 of their past 23 matches. Will Jones’s side make it a clean sweep? It’s a lovely, crisp day for it in west London.
Kick-off: 3pm (GMT)
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