England used their get-out-of-jail card in the narrow win over Samoa at the Rugby World Cup… Steve Borthwick’s side were AWFUL and the better team lost

• England secured a narrow 18-17 win over an impressive Samoa side in World Cup 
• Steve Borthwick’s England were left exposed for large amounts of the game
• Their poor performance and narrow win has left Borthwick with more questions

This was an uncomfortable shock to the system for England and also for rugby’s powers-that-be. The national team and the international authorities were both exposed by heroic Samoa.

What the Pacific islanders did on Saturday evening should have profound implications for the future structure of the global game. 

In a more immediate sense, it left Steve Borthwick to address the stark fact that his England side used up a get-out-of-jail card. 

For all the head coach’s post-match attempts to portray it as an ideal scenario, it was no such thing. England were awful and the better team lost, no question.

Whether it was a by-product of having had a down week, or the fact that they had already qualified for the knock-out stages as winners of Pool D, the representatives of the world’s richest rugby nation were pushed to the precipice by opponents who lack funding and fixtures. 

England’s display was littered with errors before they eventually edged past Samoa

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

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

On the most uneven of playing fields, Samoa were magnificent and England could not cope with their ferocity and flair.

The likes of Saracens’ Theo McFarland, Bristol captain Steven Luatua and their fellow back-rower, Fritz Lee, led a demolition of the English favourites in most contact areas around the field. Seilala Mapusua’s side ran amok in fine style – launching from a platform of regular breakdown dominance.

That was one area where England were often eclipsed, but the worry is that there was a general slump in standards. The Red Rose defence was breached time and time and time again. 

The handling and decision-making collapsed in the face of a swarming Polynesian onslaught. Owen Farrell broke Jonny Wilkinson’s Test points-scoring record, but no wonder he didn’t look euphoric afterwards as he was out of sorts – far beyond just the embarrassment of being timed-out with a crucial penalty.

The George Ford-Farrell axis didn’t function at all, but Ford was inevitably the one who made way, as four backs were moved around to accommodate Marcus Smith at full-back. 

Borthwick faces a major dilemma this week about selection, because this was supposed to be a chance for the strongest XV to sharpen up for the quarter-finals but, instead, they were worryingly blunt and disjointed.

An impressive start gave way to flailing disarray as Samoa stormed ahead, before England found a way out of their deep hole in the closing minutes, but only because Tumua Manu’s yellow card had left a gap for Danny Care. 

The Harlequins scrum-half was still required to save his side with a tap-tackle intervention to prevent a late, long-range try at the other end. If Samoa had kept their heads to fashion a drop goal shot for Lima Sopoaga, they would have had the scalp they craved.

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

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

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

Borthwick’s points about spirit in adversity and problem-solving when it really mattered stood up to some scrutiny, but England required some big officiating decisions to go their way, which left Mapusua to reasonably reflect on what he termed ‘unconscious bias’ in the sport. 

On this evidence, the victors in Lille will be flying home from Marseille a week today, unless they can orchestrate a transformation in response to this stinging ordeal.

England tend to be best with backs to the wall and that is where they will be in the week ahead. Soon after they had escaped to victory, the sight of Ireland dismantling Scotland reinforced the sense of a glaring gulf in the home-nations hierarchy.

But next is a quarter-final against Fiji, which has trouble written all over it. ‘I hope the fans believe in us that we will be better – we have to be, or we’ll find ourselves on a plane home,’ said Care. ‘Next week, it’s going to be a team who are gunning for us, but we’ll be ready.’

England will have rebound motivation; not only after their alarmingly close encounter on Saturday, but also after losing to Fiji at Twickenham at the end of August. Referring to that setback, Care said: ‘We let ourselves down and we took that personally. It was a bit of a line in the sand.’

Maro Itoje contributed to England’s fortuitous win with a crucial turnover penalty to lift a Samoan siege. The Saracens lock offered an honest verdict, saying: ‘It goes without saying that it wasn’t the performance we wanted. We were probably a little bit off in a number of areas.

‘All the players will watch the game individually, before we have the full-bore team meeting. It’s normally led by Steve, but it’s an interactive process and the players will chip in. It has to be honest, without a doubt. We’ve had a number of pretty awkward, tough conversations and meetings over the last three, four months as a squad. And they’re necessary if you want to move forward.’

While England regressed, Samoa rose to the occasion so impressively that it served as a damning indictment of plans for a Nations Championship without them, starting in 2026, with no prospect of promotion and relegation until 2030, at the earliest – if it ever happens. Mapusua was asked when his team will next face Tier One opposition and he had no idea.

England are into the last eight and play Fiji next weekend. They should win but they need to be better

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

The Samoans will be offered plaudits now, then crumbs off the top table for the next four years, before going into another World Cup woefully under-prepared, but expected to step up. 

Their plight sums up a sport trapped in its small-minded desire to protect the status quo and deny influence or fair treatment to those lacking commercial clout.

Events in Lille should force a re-think of the future blueprint of Test rugby but, sadly, that won’t happen. 

England should arrange a tour of the south Pacific as a debt of honour to Samoa and Fiji, but that won’t happen either, despite the likes of Itoje being astute enough to grasp the bigger picture.

‘For rugby to grow in the manner which I think it should, we don’t want to just have eight really good nations,’ he said. ‘We want to have 20-plus nations that are really competitive and play at a consistent level. That’s the challenge and one of the things that needs to be addressed.’

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