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England wary of Samoa threats

George Ford [England Rugby]
England must be prepared for an unstructured game from Samoa in their final Old Mutual Wealth Series game, says fly half George Ford.

So far in November, England have secured wins against Argentina and Australia, while Samoa have suffered close loses to Scotland and Romania.

However, Leicester stand off Ford says the Pacific Islanders will present a different test because of their style of play.

“With Samoa it’s going to be a different challenge in terms of probably being a little bit unpredictable," he said.

“In the stuff I’ve seen in the last two or three games it’s hard to pick up any trends and themes for example, other than every now and then someone will fly out of the line.

“I think we’ve got to be sharp in terms of our decision making and make sure everyone’s a genuine option when we’re attacking, we’re not predictable in terms of they can see a play coming and afford to fly out of the line and hit someone, because that’s how they energise themselves by big hits and winning collisions."

DICTATING PLAY

Ford made his first ever start for England against Samoa in 2014, and will win his 40th cap at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.  

He knows as a number 10 he is often a target for the opposition, but he remains focused at the job in hand.

“You don’t think about the danger of it but you understand that there are some big guys coming off the line," he added.

“When we’ve got the ball we can’t sit back and be tentative we’ve still got to go at Samoa and try and dictate to them. We’ve got to be brave and courageous in terms of that."

He also revealed that the preparations at Pennyhill Park have been geared to what they expect to face this weekend.

“The coaches manipulate training so we do prepare for it.

“Of course it’s never the same as a game but the defence that we’ve been attacking this week has been Samoa like – it’s been random, it’s been unpredictable, it’s been guys flying out of the line.

“So you can prepare for it in terms of that but you never know what’s going to come again at the weekend."

Read more at England Rugby