England Exceed Expectations in Tough Samoan Test The Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Australia's New South Wales was the location for the mid-season Pacific Test between Samoa and England. England Rugby League Head Coach Wayne Bennett selected a squad comprising a mixture of Super League and Australian based players and the coach considered the test as an important component in the build-up to the World Cup later in the year. England were favourites to take the spoils, but only just with Samoa getting a four point start on the coupon. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

England Exceed Expectations in Tough Samoan Test The Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Australia's New South Wales was the location for the mid-season Pacific Test between Samoa and England. England Rugby League Head Coach Wayne Bennett selected a squad comprising a mixture of Super League and Australian based players and the coach considered the test as an important component in the build-up to the World Cup later in the year. England were favourites to take the spoils, but only just with Samoa getting a four point start on the coupon. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Very comfortable in the end despite putting pressure on ourselves in the 2nd half. Overall, it was a lot better than I think most were anticipating. Sam Burgess, Graham, Hill, Whitehead and Hodgson were outstanding, and Flanders was good in the first half, but poor in the 2nd. They really matched the Samoan physicality despite many predicting they wouldn't The backs worked hard, and took a lot of pressure off the forwards, they showed why you need strong ball carriers on the edges.
The halves were also pretty good off the back of a decent platform, I thought Brown was poor in the first half, but really came into the game in the second.
Heightington was solid off the bench, but I fail to see what he brought that others couldn't. McQueen was poor in limited game time, I doubt we'll see him in the 17 again if we don't have injuries. As for Tom Burgess, I'd pick Cooper, Taylor or Walmsley over him any day of the week at the moment.

Overall it could well prove a lot more valuable than we'd hoped, and it was a huge improvement with and without the ball from what we saw last year. Hopefully, this kind of event is something we see every season now.

As for Samoa, despite all the hype, they were exactly as I thought they would be. A team full of big lumps, with no structure, or brains. All the Island nations are crying out for a scrum half who can control a game. Ben Roberts isn't a world beater, but he would definitely be an improvement on what they have at the moment because Milford looks rubbish without an organiser next to him

I didn't see the game but sounds like we won soundly enough in a game i thought we may struggle to get the win. Still a few players to come back into contention for us too so bodes well.

See ryan Hall scored yet again. Always makes me laugh when opposition fans question his inclusion particularly in recent years.the guy always does the business for England and is a crucial cog in bringing the ball back in that arena where size really does matter.

32 Tries in 32 International games is some achievement,although fans with Cherry and White goggles on still don't realise that he is our most potent winger

Yes, he certainly caught that ball nicely and plonked it down unopposed with style.

Surprised Percival didn't get a run out as I though he'd been the form centre this season.
Still far too many errors to challenge NZ and Oz and not enough ball to the centres.

That sort of performance could get close to NZ on an off day, but even a below par Australia would have easily dealt with England. The way Widdopp has been playing he would have made a big difference in attack and the short kicking game.

NZ have been a big let down since 2014. The Aussies have their number right now, and it seems if Johnson isn't having one of them days its an easy oz win. we should really have beaten them last year too, we certainly shouldn't fear them later in the year.

Hopefully Widdop can repeat his early season form when he returns and carry it into the WC.

The thing with NZ is that if they are stopped from scoring early their confidence evaporates. Against Aus they played far too laterally, setting up lots of sweeping passing moves to the left that looked nice but caused the Aussies very few problems.

For both us and NZ errors are a real killer - the number, areas we make them and how we react (or don't). Australia make very few errors at their own end and when they do make a mistake usually react much faster to clean it up.

The other issue is psychological. Australia played very calmly against Aus because their playmakers were entirely confident they'd get them. You also cannot let Australia jump into the lead - they are almost impossible to beat once they get ahead. Australia have no players with any memory of losing to England, and vice versa with our team, which is an added hurdle.

I really can't see England beating Australia, but for me success would be getting to the WC final against them and giving them a genuine game for 80 minutes. Given the relative strength of players available, that would be a huge achievement IMO.

Perhaps the strangest thing about international RL is that if Australia's best players were spread amongst all the other nations we could have an unbelievable World Cup. Sadly they all play for Australia, which means that they are just too good. I can't see that changing any time soon.