Too quick, too powerful, too connected. The mighty England did what was expected in their second RWC 2025 outing.
Story of the match
England were immediately into their stride, making light of the wet conditions to show off an all-round game that has now delivered 59 wins in their past 60 tests. And it was centre Megan Jones, already looking like a tournament standout, who grabbed the first after just three minutes. Her second coming soon after.
Sandwiched in-between Jess Breach produced a finish fitting for a 50th international try, dancing round the Samoa defence to notch her half-century.
At 40-0 after 30 minutes, the floodgates appeared to be open but much to the delight of the capacity crowd, Samoa showed real fight. First, only some desperate scramble defence stopped the Manusina from completing a length-of-the-field try and then came arguably the loudest cheer of the day, as Harmony Vatau slotted over Samoa’s first ever Rugby World Cup points.
But it takes more than that to rattle this England side and they soon reasserted their authority. A sweet combination of forward power and fleet-footed pace delivered a further seven tries after the break – including three for Breach and a remarkable 27 points for back-up fly-half Helena Rowland.
Mastercard Player of the Match
Helena Rowland came in for her first RWC 2025 start, playing in the relatively unfamiliar position of fly-half but it certainly did not show as she grabbed a try and 11 conversions in an all-action display.
"Very pleased. The conditions weren't really in our favour but we adapted to that and played some nice rugby at times, put them in the corners. With a squad that had so many changes you couldn't really tell - it felt cohesive and that's what we wanted to achieve," Player of the Match Rowland said.
"I love playing at Frankin's Gardens, whether that's in club colours or England colours, it's always incredibly special. I love the crowd here, it's always a great atmosphere. So, to come in, play 10 and hopefully do a decent job, that was my aim."
Coach insight
It was all smiles for England head coach John Mitchell:
"I loved their energy at the start," he said. "I thought they were very clinical. They stuck to the process for as long as they could. It's very difficult in those circumstances ,when you build a scoreboard early it's easy to get loose. Clearly we did at times but we were able to get back on process.
"I thought we were quite consistent. I'm really thrilled. I think there were 11 World Cup debutantes today so it's huge. I think we've got everyone started in the tournament except Holly [Aitchison].
"I think our squad depth is exceptional - just look at the quality of some of the players tonight and some of the performances."
Samoa head coach Ramsey Tomokino was proud of his players' efforts in defeat.
"We played well in patches. We still want to be better but we came up against a class England side," Tomokino said. "They suffocated us, forced us into errors... when you don't play at that level often, it's a tough day for us. We wanted a performance but the girls played with their hearts.
"We set some small wins about getting some points and trying to keep the score down. The sacrifices some of the girls make, we've got mothers, people who have taken time off work, but we don't want to make excuses, we want to get better. And if we get opportunities to play in big competitions like Fijiana, we will get better."
Stat of the day
England wing Claudia Moloney Macdonald carried the ball for 150 metres - that's more than one-and-a-half of London's iconic Big Ben.
Next steps
After making 13 changes for this match, there will no doubt be more alterations for England’s final Pool A match v Australia next Saturday evening in Brighton. With the knockout place secure, it will be all about grabbing top spot ahead of the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Samoa head to York to take on the USA, hoping to make yet more friends with their inspiring play.
