George Burgess/Godinet/Leilua for MoM imo

I thought both Smith and Widdop were good - it was nice to see England with two halves who can kick a ball. As people have said, the front row played well, but the back row was sketchy. I thought Shenton looked vulnerable defensively; I'd consider trying Hardaker at left centre next week. Overall we gave ourselves too much work to do in hot conditions with all of those mistakes in the first half, and it showed later in the game. We showed some character to hang on, though.

Good hard test for first match of the tournament. All that tackling in the first 20 minutes definitely took its toll. Full back did some good work in defence but being able to catch a bomb must be a prerequisite for the position I would've thought. Not sure about MoM but will go for Hill despite "that" lapse!

A bit harsh that.

New Zealand 'B' and 'C' might be a more appropriate moniker

Well thankfully that was Samoa and not Australia or New Zealand. The ball control, discipline, and line speed will need to improve next week. he pundits were praising the 2 hookers but I thought they were quite poor with their distribution, and they seemed to get bumped off in defence a lot. Hopefully we've got some of the mistakes, and rustiness out of the system and can improve next week because we're in trouble if we don't.

Individually all the props were good, and really carried well but, the back row was shocking overall. We really, really missed Flanders and Burgess.
The backs did OK given limited ball, both wingers returned well, and both centres defended very well I thought. Tomkins however looks like Richie Mathers defending kicks at times, and I'm not sure we can afford to carry on playing him there.

I thought Tom was better than George actually.

Smith made the pass of the night (a blinder) to Tomkins for Watkins try. He's not going to beat defender after defender but with very limited ball he was excellent today and offered a nice balance alongside Widdop.

He above anyone (anyone of the players who's places aren't guaranteed anyway)deserves a shot next week.

Whinos fans in "replace Tomkins with serial miscreant at full back and get rid of other Tomkins and Matty Smith cos we hate Wigan" shock opinion latest.

I can't understand the negativity of posters sometimes and I'm sure it is mainly emotion.
Plenty of positives.
1st big positive. I've just seen an international game of Rugby League.
Great atmosphere Samoan Fans made it a special occasion.
I look forward to PNG being in the mix.
In play TV replays at last! So no need to miss the action, just need to make the replay the smaller screen rather than the live action.
England weathered the storm, they were rusty to say the least and tackle completion was poor. Well done the forwards for doing the hard graft and really saving this match. Graham and Hill are machines.
In soccer and Rugby Union England also play indifferently and win. The difference is it doesn't worry the fans, maybe its because they play lots of games during the season. When did England RL last play?
Negative was, we need a full back!!
Sam Tompkins into the Centres and Zak Hardacker to get the number 1 shirt is an absolute no brainer.
With so little prep time England always look vunerable first game up. Well done Samoa, came so close to winning but I think NZ and Australia will aim to do the basics much earlier to counter them better than We did and control the game.
The sheer joy of being able to see the game I love for the next month or so on weekend mornings outweighs any thoughts of worrying about the performance.

Other than a couple of kicks, Smith was awful, especially in defence. The drop goal attempt was pathetic

Front Rowless Australia "B" in for a TRY early doors.

6-0