Listening to 5live and cant believe what I just heard. Sideline correspondent woman just said she isn't coaching the team but she is riding every player! Must mean something different in Australia! O.O

Scrappy 2nd half

Garbage call to give them field position to score that try. He literally kicked the ball out of Hall's hands.

pathetic tackle attempt from gale there

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

Who did they play? That Brown? Ben Roberts is certainly better than him. Milford is a brilliant talent, but not, as you say, an organiser.

Flanders??

Yes, Brown was their 7, and complete rubbish.


Sean 'Todd Flanders' O'Loughlin

Considering most of our team played last weekend on the other side of the world, that was an impressive performance. England dominated the game against some formidable NRL stars. Looking forward to the World Cup.

Good confidence boost, at a time when NZ seem in disarray after another one sided game against the Aussies and two players accused of buying Drugs. Surely we can make it to the World Cup Final this time?

well done england!

seemed to be in total control and 30-10 result a good boost

same again when the world cup comes round now!

It was a wonderful crowd.
In just a few years this fixture has really captured the imagination of the Polynesian and Melanesian communities in Sydney's west. Almost 1 in 10 of them were at the game and having a ball celebrating their culture and Rugby League.
Rugby League is rapidly replacing Union as the sport of the South Pacific, and all the rich ex-pat's who live and work in Sydney have a lot of influence back in the Islands, so this fixture is really spreading the word for the code very effectively.

Let's hope so. For all the criticism of the games' governing bodies, international RL overall has never been stronger.

Fantastic win for England yesterday,Surely we must fancy our chances of at least reaching this years World Cup Final
I hope that Heighington and McQueen dont make the World Cup squad as I don't agree with their inclussion,I would much rather see Currie,Bateman and Ward in there

Ryan Halls try took his tally to 32 tries in 32 Internationals which is some achievement

If we're going to pick Aussie players with English heritage then surely someone like Adam Cuthbertson would be appropriate, at least he's played a fair amount of his RL in this country. Either way I hope the 3 young back rowers mentioned above get back to full fitness, and are playing well in 5 months time.

Joel Moon could qualify as he has lived in England 3 years, we need a 2nd quality centre as well as Watkins.

He isnt picking them because they are australian, he is picking them because they play in the NRL, Bennett probably thinks Cuthbo retired.

He even said he would have picked George Burgess if available despite his shocking form

Lets hope the poor performances of McQueen Heighington and Tom Burgess and the good performances of Gale McGilvery and SO'L shows Bennett that the top SL players are still better than bang average players in the NRL

I can't see Bennett picking Cuthbertson - he was happy to let him leave Newcastle.

England played reasonably well, but we still look clunky and go through bad spells. Be very interesting to see how much difference Widdopp would make.

Even better if someone would accuse Cronk, Smith & Thurston of a crime as well! I thought it was a good game for England, My only concern is that the coach thinks the two average Aussies are a better choice than Taylor or Walmsley?

He didn't, he thinks they're better than other back rowers.

Pedantic? just because I know now't

How is it pedantic? Just because Bennett gives a debut to McQueen when Batemans out everybody loses their .

I do think its a bit rich to suggest that the most experienced coach around knows less about players than fans. I can't remember on here how often we've been told that GB/England's pack was somehow superior to Australia, only to see it demolished on the pitch.

We also don't know how much impact on Bennett's thinking the limit on players per club had, or how much he was seeking to widen the squad this time round. Any number of players might miss out on the WC through injury.

As it is, I think whilst England's performance wasn't totally convincing, the fact they reasonably easily beat a Samoa side packed with NRL players has made a few people here sit up. That's especially the case when you think we were without Widdopp and Williams, who could well have been the first choice halfbacks.

I think that he would have lined up with Widdop at Full Back, with Williams and Gale in the halves.

Be good to see Currie and Bateman come back into that squad

I also think this was plan A.

Widdop hasn't played FB for years and was the form halfback in the NRL prior to his injury a couple of weeks ago. Why would anyone have him down to play anywhere but in the halves?