Samoa led 17-11 thanks to two first-half touchdowns by winger Nigel Ah-Wong, and they were on the skids until Care scored a 73rd minute try from a clean break round the open side of a scrum on the fourth reset of a set-piece siege. The oldest man on the pitch had given them a shot at redemption, and Owen Farrell's conversion provided England with their great escape.
Care's late command performance after coming on with 14 minutes. left to play was one of England's few highlights, with the veteran making an immediate impact by making a try-saving tackle on Saracens blindside Theo McFarland, who had an outstanding match for the Pacific islanders throughout the entire script.
Care even managed to trump that by making another try-saving tackle as the Samoans launched a rip-roaring last-gasp attack to sink England. It began with a brilliant jinking counter-attack sparked by Care's opposite number, Melani Matavao, and when the ball was whisked from lock Brian Alainu'uese to livewire full-back Duncan Paia'aua, and finally to winger Neria Fomai, it looked like curtains for England's unbeaten run in Pool D.
However, with Care tackling Fomai around his bootstraps the Samoans were thwarted, and Farrell, who broke Jonny Wilkinson's England points-scoring record of 1,179 midway through the first half, was able to breathe a sigh of relief as he banged the ball into touch.
However, this was a big retrograde step before a likely meeting with Fiji in next Sunday’s quarter-final in Marseille, with England reverting to the sluggish, disjointed displays that characterised their warm-up shortcomings.
This story is from the October 08, 2023 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the October 08, 2023 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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