Demonstrating plenty of tricks and a measure of power and pace, seventh seeds Samoa will present England with another headache tonight, said England coach Mike Friday.
Even without star player Semo Sititi, a last-minute withdrawal from the squad when he broke his jaw in an English Premiership match for Harlequins last week, the Samoans look well worth a place in the quarter-finals with three convincing wins over Italy, Taiwan and Georgia yesterday.
'Samoa have impressed me, they've got a very balanced side with lots of pace and lots of power,' said Friday, who cannot afford another slip-up after England lost to France late last night.
'We were wary of them before the tournament started, we knew they had strengthened their squad with the Super 12 players they have brought in. It will be a very stern challenge for us. We'll need to be at 100 per cent of our ability,' Friday said.
Led by inspirational stalwart Brian Lima, the Samoans opened their campaign with a 28-10 win against Italy. They looked even sharper in their second appearance, giving Taiwan no chance in a 35-0 win. Against an awkward Georgia team, Paul Perez ran in a first half hat-trick in a 36-7 triumph.
David Lemi, among the leading scorers in the 2004-05 IRB Sevens series, scored three tries and six conversions in the two opening matches before being rested for the third against Georgia. 'It's what we were looking for the first day, to secure ourselves three good wins,' said Samoa coach John Schuster.