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Danny Care saved England from disaster against Samoa on Saturday after realising he had to back up his Alan Shearer-style try-scoring celebration.<\/p>\n
Care stepped off the bench at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to race over for the 74th minute touchdown that was converted by Owen Farrell, snatching an 18-17 victory which was kind to Steve Borthwick\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
Upon racing over from a five metre-scrum, the veteran Harlequins scrum-half raised his left arm aloft and looked up to the stands, mimicking England and Newcastle football great Shearer.<\/p>\n
Care then made a crucial intervention seconds from full-time when he made a try-saving tackle on wing Neria Fomai as Samoa staged a last-ditch assault on the line that fell metres short.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been on my mind that I haven\u2019t scored many tries for England, especially recently being out of the fold for a few years you never think you\u2019re going to get another opportunity like that,\u201d Care said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided that if I did do it, I\u2019ll enjoy it and if you do decide to do an Alan Shearer celebration across the stadium you better make that tackle after!<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really remember the tackle \u2013 it was a blur \u2013 but I remember thinking you can\u2019t celebrate like Alan Shearer and not make that tackle!<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys put their body on the line for 80 minutes so the least you can do when you\u2019ve been on the bench is run back and try and tackle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully that shows a bit about what we\u2019re about as a team. Even though it wasn\u2019t a brilliant performance, we work hard for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t really remember the tackle – it was a blur – but I remember thinking you can\u2019t celebrate like Alan Shearer and not make that tackle!<\/p>\n
Once again England found a way to win when the game was slipping away \u2013 no mean feat for a side that in recent times was prone to imploding when the pressure came on.<\/p>\n
And although it propelled them into the quarter-finals as Pool D winners, it was a deflating performance coming in the wake of feelgood victories against Argentina, Japan and Chile.<\/p>\n
Borthwick claimed the full-blooded encounter against an inspired Samoa was the ideal build-up to the knockout phase and Care agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had won that game by 20-30 points and scored a load of tries, would that be great prep for next week? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Care said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a way, now we\u2019ve probably had the perfect game to prep for next week. It was scrappy, Samoa threw everything into every breakdown, we gave away too many penalties, we lost the ball too many times and we know why already.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what not to do. I hope the fans believe in us that we will be better. We have to be or we\u2019ll find ourselves on a plane home.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of hard work starts this week but we\u2019re four from four, in a quarter final and we can get out there and get to the next stage.\u201d<\/p>\n