Basics again.

Absolutely no pressure on the kicker.

We need a full back who is commanding under the high ball. An old record from me but ST is just NOT good enough and we lose games through his inability in that area. Get Hardaker in and put ST at centre.

Perhaps if Tomkins could catch a high ball it would help

It's not over till it's over.

Can it be do AND dire?

On the ropes at the moment.

He doesn't even challenge for them most of the time

My word ST caught a ball! No pressure though.

He always looks frightened.

We shouldn't be in this position. It goes back to that dire first 20 minutes. We let them get confidence due to tactical ineptitude and dropping ball. They could have been blown away with patience.

Good game.
It's only a matter of time before Samoa or one of the other Pacific teams knock over a big 3 side.

or an Auckland Select XIII.........

Tomkins looks like a 6 playing fullback nowadays. He just isn't dealing well enough with those high kicks but in fairness the rest of his game was outstanding. Some of his defensive work was exceptional. I'd have said get him in the halves but Widdop and especially Smith were very good with limited ball to work with. I thought those two were the difference today against two poor Samoan halfbacks.

All in all it's just good to get through with a win. Basic errors killed us at points but I'm very optimistically putting that down to rust! O'Loughlin and Whitehead should come in to the team next week.

I have said it before, GB should do a proper tour of the Pacific. Giving, Samoa, Tonga, PNG at full strength (which they probably would be if oz and NZ weren't playing) are all a stern test for us especially at home, and it would be the biggest thing to happen in the pac Isles for ages.

Surely it wouldn't be hard to convince the governments, tourist boards, airline and hotel companies of the benefits of sponsoring such a tour. It would be great entertainment and probably tie up the islands ad an rl stronghold for a generation

Really enjoyed that game. Plenty of passion from the Samoan's.
Matty Smith really took control in the 2nd half and his kicking game won us that game.
Really good debuts by the 9's and the props where outstanding as a unit with Chris Hill really impressing. Cut out early errors and improve our discipline and we will take on the Aussies and Kiwi's.