England vs. Samoa: Score and Report from Autumn Rugby International

England won their first Test of the autumn international series on Saturday, beating Samoa, 28-9, at Twickenham to finally stop their losing streak.   

Jonny May and Mike Brown each dotted down to give England their victory, the official England Rugby Twitter account confirming their triumph:

Samoa came into the clash as a Pacific Island underdog but performed admirably in attempting to defy the odds and take a result away from England.

They succeeded in frustrating their hosts up until half-time, and with only a converted try in the balance at 13-6, it was hinted that improvements were needed against the kind of team England must be doing away with:

Ten minutes into the second half, Samoan centre Johnny Leota provided a moment of controversy after going high in his attempt on George Ford:

That challenge brought the visitors down to 14 men, and from there England were allowed to pull away with Mike Brown scoring just a minute later.

Broadcaster Nick Heath told of a moment in the match where the referee was encouraged to dismiss the TMO, an aspect of this international series which has been discussed at great length:

Taking his chance with Owen Farrell at No. 12, Ford converted both scores and notched three penalties to account for a bulk of his team's final score.

The Bath youngster was full of running and continuously looked to put his men on the front foot, Rugby World's Charlie Morgan noting the positive connotations of his and Farrell's relationship:

However, Stuart Lancaster may well find criticism in the fact his team weren't able to put the finishing touches on more of their opportunities in the enemy 22.

England can't bank on Australia being so generous in handing them so many chances or in wasting so many themselves next week.

Both teams will be desperate to finish their autumns on a high, but Lancaster is sure to employ more squad changes this week as he continues to assemble all his pieces for the ideal XV.