England must tackle Samoans with brains rather than brawn

OLLY BARKLEY believes England must use their heads against the physical Samoans on Saturday.

The Bath star, recovered from his torn hip abductor, starts for the first time alongside Jonny Wilkinson at inside centre.

He will share the responsibility for making the play in an encounter which England almost certainly must win if they are not to suffer the ignominy of becoming the first champions in rugby World Cup history to exit at the group phase.

Barkley’s route to success centres on denying Samoa targets for their infamous crash tackles.

He said: “They’re an incredibly physical side so we have to give ourselves more time on the ball.

“The last thing we want is boys arriving on the pass when Henry Tuilagi is running straight at you. Depth is an issue, timing of the run. We don’t want to give them anything massive to hit early on to let them get their tails up.

“We are going to try to move them around. Rugby is a very physical game but we don’t want to be in a complete crash-bash battle with them.

“We’re looking not to give them solid targets to hit which is what they really enjoy.”

Barkley is in no doubt the Samoans hit higher and harder than all other opponents having felt the muscular bulk of teammate Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu in training at Bath.

But he also knows that it can be their Achilles heel.

“You know the way they play the game,” he said. “If someone wants to fly in and take my head off and we get a penalty in front of the posts I’d take that and the three points.”

There has been much rumination at England’s Trianon Palace base this past week to try to finger the source of the underachievement which culminated in the record 36-0 defeat to South Africa.

Barkley and Wilkinson at least should provide England with more direction and creativity, especially considering Barkley’s performance at number 10 against the US was arguably England’s best individual display of the tournament so far.

Barkley said: “We’re looking at spreading options across the field. We feel our attack has been overly compressed the past couple of games which makes it easier for teams to defend.”

Barkley, who insists he prefers playing 12 to fly-half, is just thankful to have another crack at a World Cup he thought might have been finished for him when he felt his hip tear.

“I was thinking the worst,” he said. “I was thinking get back for Tonga maybe or maybe even fly home.

“The medical staff have worked wonders. I’ve had a few injections into the area which weren’t pleasant but they seem to have done the job.”

Meanwhile, goalkicker Gavin Williams is a major doubt for Samoa.

Williams is struggling with a finger injury, and Samoa team manager Kenape Tu’uau admitted: “I don’t think he will be ready for Saturday.”

Samoa’s World Cup campaign has been blighted by repeated injury setbacks, and the potential loss of Williams — a full-back or centre — would hit them hard.