Gustard: We hit as hard as Samoans

ENGLAND have warned Samoa “we hit hard too” as they prepare to face the physical onslaught expected at Twickenham this afternoon.

Defence coach Paul Gustard insists Eddie Jones’ men have nothing to fear against the big-tackling Pacific Islanders as they seek to conclude the autumn series with a 22nd victory in 23 Tests under their Australia head coach.

“It’s too easy to stereotype people of certain descent. They hit hard but we have guys who hit hard too,” Gustard said.

“We’ve got some big hitters. There’s not many people that tackle harder than Courtney Lawes, Joe Marler or whoever.

“We’ve got guys who can stop people in their tracks as well - big guys who can hit and run hard.”

Financially-stricken Samoa have lost all six Tests they have played this year, but with seven English-based players in their starting XV, the 25-1 underdogs will be looking to sign off 2017 with a morale-boosting performance.

“Samoa are big men, run quick and have athleticism and desire. They will also want to perform after their loss to Romania,” Gustard said.

“We’re expecting that and have to throw a few metaphorical punches of our own, be able to attack them and take on that challenge and conquer it.

“Samoa can score points – we saw that against Scotland. They’re a dangerous team if you allow them to be.

“We want to go up a level from last week.

“We feel like we’ve made a couple of big inroads over the past year and now we want to go up another level this weekend.”

England have conceded only one try this autumn, against Argentina in the series opener, to edge closer to Gustard’s stated aim of fielding the meanest defence in the world.

“We’re really happy. We’ve worked hard at it after recognising some things in the summer that we needed to put into place,” Gustard said.

“We conceded a few tries quite cheaply in Argentina in the summer, even though we defended pretty well on the whole.

“We’re pleased with the efforts in training and the performances.”