It'd be great to see and it would be a great learning curve for a young England side.

Parts of his game is missing at 6 though as well. Tomkins is such a talent he needs to be on the field but we need to find where we can fit him in because whilst a natural talent he doesn't really fit into a position at the moment.

Matty Smith did nothing but kick the ball, a couple of cracking bombs but several straight to the defender. If he had a fraction of the creativity of Widdop we wouldn't have had to rely on kicks. You could bring Deacon out of the box to do what Smith did.
Overall the front row were excellent, back row very poor. Watkins the biggest waste of talent since Newlove. Hall MoM.
Tomkins to 6/7, Hardaker to FB.

Definitely.

Enjoyable game, the Samoan passion and intensity is fabulous, great set of fans as well.

If, and looking at that, it's a big if, we can cut out the basic errors, we'll go alright. Not saying we'll win the thing but we should be competitive.

I thought the centres both defended well, the halves showed a few nice touches, good kicking game from Smith and both hookers played to a plan. The pack stood up to the expected ferocity of the Samoans and whilst not wanting to jump on the bandwagon, I've got to agree with concerns at the amount of ball Tomkin's allows to bounce.

Decent'ish kicking game but Smith can't tackle for **** and the Aussies will target him all night.
Hardaker at FB and move Tomkins into the halves with Widdop,
Drop Joel Tomkins & Westerman and we might have a chance next week.

I think he's getting caught in two minds as to his own position at the moment. I think he went to the NRL with it in his mind that defences are so much tighter (which they are) so he's tried to become more of a creative force and he is. His defensive work is good as well but he's gone further backwards dealing with high kicks. I don't think it's a lack of bravery but more a lack of confidence in catching the balls in traffic (and sometimes in no traffic at all).

In terms of what he lacks at 6 I'd say it's possibly just a kicking game but he's actually pretty good when given the opportunity. He needs to develop it but he won't get the chance to do that at fullback.

Hall MoM, are you sure?!

George Burgess/Godinet/Leilua for MoM imo

I thought both Smith and Widdop were good - it was nice to see England with two halves who can kick a ball. As people have said, the front row played well, but the back row was sketchy. I thought Shenton looked vulnerable defensively; I'd consider trying Hardaker at left centre next week. Overall we gave ourselves too much work to do in hot conditions with all of those mistakes in the first half, and it showed later in the game. We showed some character to hang on, though.

Good hard test for first match of the tournament. All that tackling in the first 20 minutes definitely took its toll. Full back did some good work in defence but being able to catch a bomb must be a prerequisite for the position I would've thought. Not sure about MoM but will go for Hill despite "that" lapse!

A bit harsh that.

New Zealand 'B' and 'C' might be a more appropriate moniker

Well thankfully that was Samoa and not Australia or New Zealand. The ball control, discipline, and line speed will need to improve next week. he pundits were praising the 2 hookers but I thought they were quite poor with their distribution, and they seemed to get bumped off in defence a lot. Hopefully we've got some of the mistakes, and rustiness out of the system and can improve next week because we're in trouble if we don't.

Individually all the props were good, and really carried well but, the back row was shocking overall. We really, really missed Flanders and Burgess.
The backs did OK given limited ball, both wingers returned well, and both centres defended very well I thought. Tomkins however looks like Richie Mathers defending kicks at times, and I'm not sure we can afford to carry on playing him there.

I thought Tom was better than George actually.

Smith made the pass of the night (a blinder) to Tomkins for Watkins try. He's not going to beat defender after defender but with very limited ball he was excellent today and offered a nice balance alongside Widdop.

He above anyone (anyone of the players who's places aren't guaranteed anyway)deserves a shot next week.

Whinos fans in "replace Tomkins with serial miscreant at full back and get rid of other Tomkins and Matty Smith cos we hate Wigan" shock opinion latest.

I can't understand the negativity of posters sometimes and I'm sure it is mainly emotion.
Plenty of positives.
1st big positive. I've just seen an international game of Rugby League.
Great atmosphere Samoan Fans made it a special occasion.
I look forward to PNG being in the mix.
In play TV replays at last! So no need to miss the action, just need to make the replay the smaller screen rather than the live action.
England weathered the storm, they were rusty to say the least and tackle completion was poor. Well done the forwards for doing the hard graft and really saving this match. Graham and Hill are machines.
In soccer and Rugby Union England also play indifferently and win. The difference is it doesn't worry the fans, maybe its because they play lots of games during the season. When did England RL last play?
Negative was, we need a full back!!
Sam Tompkins into the Centres and Zak Hardacker to get the number 1 shirt is an absolute no brainer.
With so little prep time England always look vunerable first game up. Well done Samoa, came so close to winning but I think NZ and Australia will aim to do the basics much earlier to counter them better than We did and control the game.
The sheer joy of being able to see the game I love for the next month or so on weekend mornings outweighs any thoughts of worrying about the performance.

Other than a couple of kicks, Smith was awful, especially in defence. The drop goal attempt was pathetic

Front Rowless Australia "B" in for a TRY early doors.

6-0

what was he thinkng!

What seems frustrating, whether its rugby or football, is how the England team seems to be going backwards in terms of progress, in comparison to the "developing nations".

Thankfully, it's not everyday they are made to look clueless in defence by a Wakefield Trinity Wildcats player.

At least there's lots of room for improvement next week against a team with a massively inferior front row.

Australia look worse than England so far. NZ are not exactly flying either. NZ should be 20points up by now.

Tomkins in the centres is one of the most ridiculous suggestions. It should be the other way round, Hardaker for Shenton, Tomkins 1 with the same half backs for "continuity". I would be surprised if McNamara changed the halves after all the time he bleated on about continuity with Sinfield and Chase.

Tomkins had a perfectly decent game and needs to play in the position several coaches have decided is his best (full back) not new positions of which he has much less experience, just because armchair pundits think 'he looks like a ( insert latest position here )'.

Smith had a perfectly decent game. Fluffed a drop kick, it happens.

Nothing significant to criticise there for their first serious run out. Lots of errors, but that's what they were, errors. Not the result of stupid tactics, nor people out of position.

But, as long as there's a Wigan player in the side, Leeds fans will moan about them. If you really want to unbalance the side by making a place for someone, see if Sinfield will come back.

NZ are doing far too much lateral stuff. If they straighten up and play direct they should be able to make inroads against this Aussie pack.