LILLE, France (Reuters) – England may have scraped home against a superb Samoa side on Saturday, but coach Steve Borthwick believes it was just the test they needed ahead of the World Cup quarter-finals.
It was a below-par showing as a Danny Care try seven minutes from fulltime earned England an 18-17 victory they scarcely deserved, but was enough to complete four wins in Pool D and momentum going into a likely knockout game against Fiji.
“First things first, immense credit to Samoa, they played brilliantly, like it was their World Cup final. They forced us into a lot of errors,” Borthwick told reporters.
“But looking to next week, we wanted a tough test and we got it. There were lots of errors and scrappiness. But the players got hold of it on the pitch and found a way to get the result.
“We were put under pressure and there were periods where we weren’t of the required standard.”
England will know their quarter-final opponents on Sunday when Fiji play Georgia, needing a point to finish second in Pool C ahead of Australia.
Borthwick won’t allow himself to think about that just yet but thinks England have proved they can prove their critics wrong.
“It’s highly likely we face Fiji – but we are preparing for all eventualities. A lot has been said about this England team and what they do in tough circumstances. You see a team now who finds a way, that never stops,” Borthwick said.
“Some of these players have been written off quite badly, some said we wouldn’t get out of group stage, but I always said we would be ready – the big players perform on the big stages.”
Flyhalf Owen Farrell kicked three penalties to break Jonny Wilkinson’s record for most England points in tests, moving to 1,187.
“Not too many thoughts about that, it’s a massive honour to be around long enough to (break the record). The lads gave me a framed picture in the changing room which was nice,” Farrell said.
There was one unusual moment for him against Samoa when he became the first kicker at the World Cup to go past the 60 seconds allowed to take a shot a goal, and his effort did not count.
“I was unaware, I didn’t see the clock and got lost in the kick. But it’s not good enough and luckily it didn’t cost us,” he said.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)
