Ford steers England to Samoa success
Published on: Monday, November 24, 2014
LONDON: George Ford impressed on his first Test start as England returned to winning ways with a 28-9 victory over Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday.The Bath fly-half kicked five out of seven goalkicks for a haul of 13 points in this night kick-off match. More significantly, Ford was also instrumental in creating two of England's three tries, with wing Jonny May scoring twice.Successive defeats by the All Blacks (24-21) and the Springboks (31-28) had turned this match into a 'must-win' fixture for 2015 World Cup hosts England, who kicked off on a run of five straight losses, albeit four had been against world champions New Zealand.ADVERTISEMENT "It feels good to get a win and it has been a long time," England coach Stuart Lancaster told Sky Sports.Ford added: "There was some OK stuff from me out there today, but there's a lot I need to improve on still."Samoa had called off a threatened strike in protest at the conduct of the Samoa Rugby Union, which would have seen them boycott this match, only after being told they risked losing their place at next year's World Cup.The Pacific Islanders, still yet to beat England, scored all their points courtesy of three penalties from fly-half Tusi Pisi.ADVERTISEMENT "We learned a lot from this game," said Samoa captain David Lemi."I think the scoreboard reflected our discipline and I'm really proud of the effort the boys put in today," added the wing, who plays his club rugby for English second-tier side Bristol.
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Lancaster made five changes and a positional switch to the team beaten 31-28 by South Africa last weekend, calling up Ford, whose previous four caps had come from off the bench, and moving the No 10's old school friend and former youth rugby colleague Owen Farrell from fly-half to inside centre. Pisi kicked Samoa into an early lead before Ford equalised for England, playing in unfamiliar red shirts, in the 16th minute. Four minutes later Ford demonstrated the skill England have often lacked among their backs by creating the opening try.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Ford's 'loop' move with May saw England make ground before fullback Mike Brown joined the line to send May, who slid in on a rainswept pitch, for a score by the posts. It took several minutes for South African referee Jaco Peyper to confirm the try as he consulted with the television match official before deciding Brown's pass to May had not gone forward. – AFP