England vs. Samoa: Winners and Losers from Twickenham

England ended their five–game losing streak with a 28-9 win over Samoa on Saturday.

The performance from the home side was far from the cathartic display that fans and players will have wanted before the team faces a dangerous Australian outfit.

While England struggled to dominate a robust, hard–hitting Samoan side, they always looked comfortable in the win.

Here are the winners and losers.

George Ford finally got his chance at fly–half and played well.

He created Jonny May’s first try with a nice wraparound move, and his cross–field kicking resulted in a score for Anthony Watson.

His use of the boot was good all evening; one highlight was the high, hanging kick that Mike Brown chased and caught so impressively.

He took some heavy hits from Samoa’s big brutes as well and got up every time. It was all competent stuff from the Bath man without any real fireworks.

And you could argue that his back line should have scored more points against this opponent.

He still needs to be given a chance against top-level opposition, and that should come next week against Australia.

The referee had a stinker when it came to Jonny May’s first try.

Despite the neat move by George Ford, there was a blatant block in midfield by Brad Barritt.

Then the pass to May by Mike Brown was obviously forward, which Peyper chose to ignore.

Brown was then heavily upended in the act of making that pass, but Peyper opted to take no action against his aggressor either.

The referee delivered a hat trick of wrong calls with the television match official to call upon for help. That must be some sort of world record.

England simply aren’t playing well at the moment.

Despite winning, they were no better than they showed against New Zealand and South Africa.

The pack functions well, and the lineout works, but England simply didn’t seem to know how to play a style that would squeeze the life out of a team there for the taking.

It’s time England got back to their basics and used those strong areas to provide a platform for them to play rugby in parts of the field where they can hurt teams.

At the end of the game there was a wonderful, symbolic show of solidarity between the players as both sides circled and prayed together.

It follows a week when Samoa’s players have revealed the depths to which their dispute with their own union has sunk, per The Telegraph.

But one stat in the article stands out: Samoa’s players got £400 per week for their autumn tour; England’s players got £18,000 per match.

The World Cup next year will provide an eye-watering sum of money. Clearly, the rich rugby nations and their best players don’t need it.

If it doesn’t go where it is most urgently required, we may lose great rugby nations like Samoa.

There were few positives to come from England’s display, but if their gesture of support at the end can help sort this mess out, that will be of higher value than a 50-point win.