JONES GETS RUN FOR HIS MONEY
Impoverished Samoa hit hard but four late tries show up the great divide
IN the end, the scoreline reflected the massive gulf in resources. England unloaded their bench of Lions stars, while near-bankrupt Samoa brought on Faatiga Lemalu, their unemployed lock, and Melani Matavao, their scrum- half who earns 46p a day.
Inevitably, Eddie Jones’ side scored four late tries to complete their autumn clean sweep — before the two sides joined together in a circle of unity which will be used as an image for PR spin. Money for Nothing by Dire Straits blasted around Twickenham.
England were 200-1 ON to secure the victory, but the Pacific Islanders mounted a 60-minute challenge, defying the financial strife and political uncertainty which threatens their future.
England secured t heir 22nd victory in 23 Tests — showing Jones enough to back his players to become the first ever side to win three straight Six Nations next year.
‘I’m excited about the Six Nations as we’ve got a chance to create history,’ said Jones, who will welcome back the likes of Billy Vunipola, Ben Teo, Manu Tuilagi, Kyle Sinckler and Jack Nowell.
‘We always think we can win the Six Nations,’ he added. ‘Of course it’s going to be difficult, because every other side wants to beat us whether they’re playing here at Twickenham or away, it’s their big game.’
Jones could have used some of those star names yesterday. England looked on course for a record score when they registered the first try after 104 seconds, with Mike Brown crossing the line after Maro Itoje sniped from the base of the ruck.
But the hosts were outmuscled at the breakdown, with TJ Ioane and Chris Vui frustrating their ruck, and struggled to find fluency until the final quarter.
Samoa left shoulder imprints in the ribs of Brown and Alex Lozowski, with the hits echoing through the stadium as Jones claimed his players were ‘ seduced’ by the ‘perceived easiness’.
The home crowd applauded their physicality yet, under rugby’s broken economic model, the tourists will bank none of the £5million turnover.
To counter Samoa’s hard hits, George Ford landed a high ball on Tim Na na i-Williams after 10 minutes and, when the No 10 fumbled, Elliot Daly stole the bouncing ball . Jamie George arrived in support and fed Lozowski to run under the posts.
Samoa threatened on every visit to English territory and, moments later, turned on their power game for Piula Faasalele to roll over Joe Launchbury for a soft try from the base of a scrum.
Winger Jonny May produced the moment of the half when he jinked around defenders from a quick lineout, leading to Charlie Ewels scoring from close range.
However, Ewels’ second-row partner, Launchbury, left with a shoulder injury and England struggled to find their rhythm.
Between the 29 th and 60 th minutes, they did not score a point.
Had Jones seen enough to end the year in the belief that his side are closing the gap on the All Blacks?
‘I saw those comments about the All Blacks being in decay,’ he answered.
‘ If you’ve got a 93 per cent winning record and you’re in decay, you’re not going too badly, are you?
‘ That’s how things are judged these days, if they’re not winning at 96 per cent. We get criticised at 95 per cent. We’re going backwards down the hill. I’m not sure who is in decay, whether it’s New Zealand or ourselves.’
Jones brought on Piers Francis, Ben Youngs and Semesa Rokoduguni from the bench and, after 12 phases of attack from the fresh faces, Daly finally breached the try line on the left wing.
Dylan Hartley replaced George after 63 minutes, with the Lions hooker not putting in the barnstorming performance required to replace the immovable England skipper.
Henry Slade did seize his opportunity in midfield, but rookie Exeter No 8 Sam Simmonds struggled to make an impact against the physical opposition.
‘Sam’s a good young rugby player,’ said Jones. ‘We’ve just got to get some beef on him. We might have to send him down to Miyazaki in Japan and get him to eat some Miyazaki beef.
‘Obviously those Cornish pasties aren’t working. Against the bigger sides he’s going to need that.’
England found another breakthrough after Fa a sale le was sin-binned for coming off his feet in the 70th minute.
The hosts set a platform from the lineout, with Ben Youngs firing the pass to put Slade through a gap to score.
Samoa could not compete with England’s depth and that does not look like changing in the future. Their third world economy will never sustain a model to compete with the likes of England. So what needs to be done? Revenue sharing is necessary, with a Super Rugby side and an independent CEO — someone like Ed Griffiths — who will not be afraid of rocking the boat with the national government or World Rugby.
They did not fold completely, however.
Vui hit back with a score after a fine pick up, but Daly and Rokoduguni had the final say to end with a scoreline that reflected the sorry state of affairs.
FIVE tries from Jess Breach and a hat-trick from Abbie Dow helped England Women yesterday complete a 3-0 Test series whitewash over Canada with a 64- 19 victory at Twickenham.