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Mistakes litter England's play in victory over Samoa

England recorded a largely shapeless 40-3 victory over Samoa on Saturday -- a game marred by an ugly incident that saw Lewis Moody became the first England player to be sent off at Twickenham.

Moody received his marching orders after landing a volley of punches on Alesana Tuilagi, his Leicester team-mate, during a mass brawl late on the game -- not that the big Samoan wing was entirely blameless, he too saw red.

Moody reacted to Tuilagi's dangerous tackle which up-ended England wing Mark Cueto in mid-air and which sparked the ugly fracas which saw several other players flailing fists.

It puts a question mark over the future of the firebrand Moody, who had already been suspended for six weeks this season for punching.  And it completely overshadowed a two-try performance from Wasps wing Tom Voyce which had propelled England to their biggest win over Samoa.

Charlie Hodgson, Harry Ellis and Tom Varndell, on his debut, also posted touchdowns in a scrappy and frustrating encounter which had been something of an anti-climax following last week's epic against New Zealand.

The brawl understandably overshadowed the rugby.

But if this was an experiment to identify more creativity behind England's formidable pack then it was only a limited success.

True, the result was never really in doubt and England won at a canter against a Samoan side full of vim and vigour but lacking in technique and discipline.  But the five players who Robinson experimented with at the start earned mixed reviews.

Scrum-half Ellis was feisty and sharp around the base of the scrum and his try was the best of the match.

Bath's Matt Stevens, replacing Phil Vickery at prop, slotted seamlessly into England's front five, while Leicester second-row Louis Deacon -- making his international debut -- dropped his first catch from the kick-off but did well enough at the line-out without suggesting he will ever come close to emulating the feats of his Leicester mentor Martin Johnson.

James Simpson-Daniel, winning his eighth cap and in the problem position at centre, must have felt under the most pressure.  And, in truth, he conjured little imagination before being replaced by Olly Barkley at half-time, certainly not suggesting he is the answer to England's lack of creativity.  But by far the most promising was the work of Voyce.

As it was, Hodgson got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty after seven minutes, which was quickly cancelled out by an effort from Samoan fly-half Tanner Vili.

There was lots of huff and puff about England's work, lots more power from the forwards but too much of the early action was scrappy and disjointed.

Hodgson, however, settled Robinson's side with another penalty following Samoan ill-discipline at the scrummage, although it came at a cost.  Andrew Sheridan, England's so-called "Superman" against Australia and who was giving Samoa's Census Johnston a torrid time, was forced to leave the field after 20 minutes with an ankle injury.

It was a blow but it did allow former Leicester star, New Zealand-born Perry Freshwater, to make his debut at the age of 32.

When England's first try came after 23 minutes from Wasps wing Tom Voyce, however, it was a cracking combination of forward momentum and three-quarter opportunism.

England's pack sent the Samoans reeling at a touchline maul and when the ball spilled clear the ubiquitous Lewis Moody was first to pounce.

The flank flicked up the ball and fed scrum-half Harry Ellis, who slipped it to Mike Tindall and then to Voyce, who charged over with the panache which made him the Premiership's leading try-scorer last season.

It was England's most penetrative action in a scrappy first half which was most notable for a wonderful 50-metre break and kick forward by Samoan centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu which required a try-saving piece of work from full-back Josh Lewsey.

Still, the 16-3 half-time scoreline was a fair reflection of England's superior possession and territory.

The second half saw the introduction of Bath hooker Lee Mears, making his debut in place of Steve Thompson and Olly Barkley taking over from Simpson-Daniel as Robinson continued to run his eye over the men in waiting.

It was Voyce, however, who popped up yet again to show he has that invaluable knack of being in the right place at the right time.

Again the touchdown came courtesy of more forward domination, England camping out on the Samoan line before Ellis popped out a pass to Hodgson.  Another slick pass to Voyce and the wing scythed through the gap to score with a confidence bordering on nonchalance.

Leicester's Tom Varndell was rewarded with his debut but Samoan ill-discipline meant they were soon down to 13 men.  Prop Justin Va'a went to the sin-bin for constant infringement and Vili followed him after a dangerously high tackle almost decapitated Mark Cueto.

By this time the game was long over as a serious contest, a Hodgson try in the corner having eased England well clear and a darting, meandering run from Ellis ended with a diving touchdown to put some gloss on the work which had gone before.

But then came the Tuilagi tackle which sparked a brawl which shamed rugby and which Twickenham will want to forget.

Man of the match:  There was some powerful running from Samoan strongmen Sailosi Tagicakibau and Lome Fa'atau whilst Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu showed that Samoa's future is in good hands -- on the pitch, at least.  There were not too many stand-out performances from the English -- their backs looked like they only just been introduced to one another prior to the game ... over several beers in the Cardinal Vaughan.  Steve Borthwick was perhaps the pick of the forwards, and Moody looked in fine fettle before his attack on his fellow Tiger.  Tom Voyce took his tries well, Charlie Hodgson put together some nice touches, as did his halfback partner Harry Ellis who was probably the best performer in a poor encounter.

Moment of the match:  It was nice to see several new faces make their Test debut, and great to see Tom Varndell score in his first England game.  But all those moments are eclipsed by the incidents that spawned the two red cards.

Villain of the match:  There were plenty of ugly moments and there are two winners of this dubious gong.  Alesana Tuilagi's challenge on Mark Cueto was reckless to say the least, but he wins this award for the fact that he chose to follow that up with a punch on the injured party!  Lewis Moody's reaction was also unforgivable, he takes a share in these spoils.  Monday morning's training session at Welford Road will be very interesting indeed!

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Voyce 2, Hodgson, Ellis, Varndell
Cons:  Hodgson 3
Pens:  Hodgson 3

For Manu Samoa:
Pen:  Vili

Yellow card(s):  Va'a (Samoa) 65, collapsing the scrum;  Vili (Samoa) 68, dangerous tackle.

Red card(s):  Moody (England) 75, fighting;  Tuilagi (Samoa) 75, dangerous tackle.

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 James Simpson-Daniel, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Pat Sanderson, 5 Lewis Deacon, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 James Forrester, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Tom Varndell.

Manu Samoa:  15 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tanner Vili, 9 Steven So'oialo, 8 Daniel Farani, 7 Leo Lafaiali'i, 6 Semo Sititi (captain), 5 Pelu Taele-Pavihi, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements:  16 Loleni Tafunai, 17 Kas Lealamanua, 18 Paul Tupai, 19 Jonathan Faamatuainu, 20 Garrick Cowley, 21 Anitele'a Tuilagi, 22 Lolo Lui.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Rob Dickson, Malcolm Changleng (both Scotland)
Television match official:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)