Sunday 23 November 2014 07:56, UK
England captain Chris Robshaw paid tribute to Samoa after the hard-fought 28-9 victory at Twickenham ended the hosts' five-game losing streak.
The Samoa players had previously threatened to strike and miss the Test because of problems with the Samoan Rugby Union, before World Rugby (formerly the International Rugby Board) and the International Rugby Players' Association intervened to make sure it went ahead.
After the final whistle English and Samoan players stood side-by-side in a big circle in a clear show of unity and Robshaw explained the squad were grateful for the way the Samoans approached the clash despite the problems in their camp.
"We want to thank all the Samoan guys for the way they played, we know they've got a lot of issues at the moment and all the England guys are really appreciative of the spirit and the way the game was played today," he told Sky Sports.
"I think it was a great spectacle, even if it was a bit loose at times, but all the English team are very grateful."
Another thing the English players will be grateful for is the win after a torrid run of five defeats on the bounce was finally brought to an end.
All of those defeats, of course, came against the two top ranked teams in the world in New Zealand and South Africa, but Robshaw admitted it was great to just get back to winning ways.
"It was great to get a win. It's a results business and we know there was a few errors out there and we were a little bit loose with the ball, but it was great to play a game here at night and the crowd were absolutely fantastic," he added.
Despite looking disjointed at times England still managed to run in three tries, with Jonny May dotting down twice and Mike Brown crossing over after a delightful offload from Anthony Watson.
One of the biggest positives was the performance of new fly-half George Ford, who played a key role in May's first try with a loop around Owen Farrell and then set up Brown's touch down with a well-worked cross-field kick to Bath team-mate Watson.
We want to thank all the Samoan guys for the way they played, we know they've got a lot of issues at the moment and all the England guys are really appreciative of the spirit and the way the game was played today.
Speaking in front of the Sky cameras after his first senior start for England, the 21-year-old, who also kicked over 13 points, said: "I think we got there in the end. The start was very scrappy. Obviously, Samoa are a very physical team and they came flying at us.
"We probably didn't adapt to that quickly enough I suppose and with the rain coming down we should have gone for field position. But we addressed that at half-time, came out and started the second half well."
There was further good news for the Bath fly-half, whose club coach and father Mike was watching in the crowd, as Stuart Lancaster declared he was pleased with his display.
When asked if Ford had done enough to warrant the England management having another look at him in the 10 role, Lancaster said: "Yeah, he was pretty good wasn't he?
"I think it was a great first start for him. Obviously he's a young player and hopefully we can support his development because he's going to be a great player for England."
Next up for England is Australia, as they sign off their 2014 fixtures looking for a morale-boosting victory against one of the sides that will line up against them in Pool A of next year's World Cup on home soil.
After the defeats to the other southern hemisphere powerhouses earlier this autumn, England will be keen to get a win on the board ahead of what will be an extremely important Six Nations campaign.
Lancaster admitted it was a massive game and also hinted that he had been feeling the pressure going into Saturday's match after a week in which several commentators had been picking apart his England team.
He added: "Today felt very big, I have to say, so they're all big. And, yeah, next week is a big game without a doubt."
