Samoa will be looking to cap off what has been a rather disappointing World Cup campaign on a high note when they take on an English side that has already secured top spot on the Pool D standings regardless of the final round results.
England v Samoa
Saturday 7 October
Stade Pierre-Mauroy
England 1/25 | Draw 40/1 | Samoa 8/1
It’s a good time to be an English fan with Steve Borthwick’s men having already sewn up top spot on the Pool D standings and booked a semi-final against one of Fiji or Australia.
The Red Roses have defied expectations and cruised to quarters qualification with wins over Argentina (27-10), Japan (34-12) and Chile (71-0). While there are still loads of kinks in the English armour, they do look a far better side than the one that went down 22-30 to Fiji at the tail end of August.
While England have given a decent account of themselves, the same can’t be said of the Samoans. The side from the Pacific looked like they’d be a real tough prospect in this tournament with a number of former All Blacks and Wallabies joining their cause, and while they did give Argentina a scare – going down 19-10 to the South Americans – one would have expected more from them.
The game that broke their World Cup hopes was their clash with Japan. They had beaten a declining Japanese side 22-24 earlier in the year but were unable to repeat the trick against the Brave Blossoms at the World Cup going down 28-22 to their Pacific rivals.
There’s still a lot on the line for the Samoans here as a third place finish in the pool means they do not have to go through a 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign. They would need a win or a draw to achieve this, however. And while I can see them running the English close, I can’t see them getting either of the aforementioned results.
Verdict: Samoa (+20.5) 4/5
