'Samoa could have beaten us' - Johnson
England captain Martin Johnson admits his team must improve dramatically from today’s scrambled victory over Samoa if they are to have any chance of winning the World Cup.
Johnson’s team trailed until approaching the final quarter of the match – and it was not until a moment of ingenuity from Jonny Wilkinson set up a second-half try for Iain Balshaw that England began to look comfortable on their way to a 35-22 success in Melbourne.
Lock Johnson made no excuses and insisted: “The way we played there we are not looking like winning next week [in the final Pool C match against Uruguay] - let alone the quarter-final.
“We have to look at ourselves this week, because that is not good enough – we are not going to win anything like that.”
Even so, Johnson pointed out, Samoa deserve credit for a performance which surprised so many.
“Do not patronise them – they could have beaten us,” he told ITV1.
“I thought they played fantastically well. For the first 20 minutes there was only one team on the park. We did not touch the ball for 15 minutes, and it could have been more.
“I thought we were going to come back and win it – but there were too many mistakes.”
England coach Clive Woodward confessed to some relief after a “major scare” - but claimed his side always knew they were in for a battle.
“The only team who didn’t under-estimate Samoa was England,” he said.
"They have outstanding players, and we had to be at our best. I thought our guys did brilliantly to come back in the end.”
Woodward added that today’s match proves – despite what some detractors have said about the lack of strength in depth – that the World Cup is a great competition.
“It was a tough Test match. But we have survived it and we can move on,” he said.
“We had a very strong side out and we needed it. This is a tough World Cup. I am looking forward to see Samoa play South Africa next Saturday – that will be one hell of a game.”
