England edge Samoa in bruising Four Nations opener

James Graham

Both sides packed a significant punch going forward but there was still plenty of entertainment on offer as both sides threw the ball around in a see-sawing encounter.

There were two tries apiece in the first half, with Michael Shenton and Kallum Watkins crossing for England and Isaac Liu and Daniel Vidot scoring for Samoa, but it was the English who led 14-10 at the break thanks to the boot of Gareth Widdop.

Samoa never stopped coming at their more fancied opponents, however, and actually led the game with 20 minutes remaining, but England never curbed their own attacking instincts and eventually prevailed.

Liam Farrel, Joel Tomkins and Sam Tomkins all grabbed four-pointers for England in the second half, while Samoa remained competitive with a try from Antonio Winterstein and a double from Pita Godinet.

It was England who opening the scoring after an intense opening 21 minutes when Daryl Clark put himself in the clear with a big right foot step before laying the ball on to Shenton to cruise over for a try.

Samoa were immediately back on the front foot with the assistance of a pair of penalties, and the pressure soon told as Liu bashed through a cluster of England tacklers to touch down under the posts.

Vidot gave the Pacific Islanders the lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half when he scored in the corner after a series of Samoan players had held off tackles to spread the ball out to the right flank.

A slick backline move that passed through the hands of Matt Smith and Sam Tomkins saw Watkins find himself with plenty of space to run into on the right edge and he cruised over for England’s second try.

Widdop made no mistake with a tough conversion to put the northern hemisphere side back in front.

England kept up the pressure for the remaining minutes of the half and received a penalty right in front when Clark was manhandled in a tackle by Josh McGuire, and Widdop popped over the kick as the half-time whistle sounded.

The momentum stayed with England after the interval, and it didn’t take long for Widdop to send Farrell over for England's third try with a sweet pass.

That gave England a 20-10 lead and left Samoa needing to score next to stay in the game; and Godinet duly obliged by throwing off the opposition defence with a massive dummy and scooting over the line.

The acting hooker scored an even more impressive try moments later when he darted out of dummy half to catch the English defence napping. Kyle Stanley did well to convert and Samoa edged in front 22-20 with a quarter of the match remaining.

England were awarded a controversial four-pointer when Tomkins crossed after what appeared to be a knock-on, before the same player received a favourable call from the video referee again when he stretched over the line to plant the ball to extend the lead.

Even then, the match wasn’t over, as Samoa struck back through winger Winterstein, who finished off a Hail Mary play by barging through two England defenders to keep the Samoans alive.

The favourites were able to hold on in the end, though, to record a crucial win to start their Four Nations campaign.

England 32              
Tries:
Shenton, Watkins, Farrell, J. Tomkins, S. Tomkins
Goals: Widdop 6

Samoa 26
Tries: Godinet 2, Liu, Vidot
Goals: Stanley 2, Roberts 1

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