But it wasn't the kind of thrill-a-minute performance expected from the 11-time Hong Kong champions (Fjji have won nine Hong Kong Sevens and two World Cup titles here).

Tanivula was sweating buckets after his squad held six-man Samoa to a 12-12 draw, having laboured to an unimpressive 26-17 victory over Canada earlier in the day.

Having dumped Taiwan 33-0 on Friday night, the Pacific Islanders finished pool E with two wins and one draw - enough to advance to the Cup, but not enough to convince fans they have got what it takes to make it win number 12 in Hong Kong.

Still, Tanivula remained hopeful his young charges will step it up against favourites England today.

'We were desperate. We pushed the passes but we didn't concentrate well. Credit to the boys, though. We came back when we needed to ,' said Tanivula, whose side trailed 12-7 against Samoa at the break.

Samoan tries from Jerry Meafou and Uale Mai sandwiched by a Pio Tuwai try for the Fijians gave the 2007 champions a 12-7 half-time lead.

Vereniki Goneva came to Fiji's rescue with a nice try after several slick moves to bring sides level at 12-12.

Fiji then missed a golden opportunity to close out the game when Meafou was sin-binned after knocking over Tuwai with two minutes to go.

Still, Fiji were unable to make their numeral advantage count as Samoa held on for a draw.

'We could have scored a try in the last minute. We tried to push the ball forward. Samoa came prepared but we have been playing well.

'We won two big games and I told the boys to step up tomorrow,' Tanivula said.

'We played Taiwan [on Friday] and they put us under a lot of pressure and we committed mistakes. We did a lot better against Canada and Samoa.

'It was a good build-up for us. We've got to be patient pushing those passes. When we have possession, we have to control it. We are a young team who have a long way to go and we'll learn from our mistakes.'