Ford to the fore as England beat Samoa 28-9

By Mitch Phillips LONDON (Reuters) - Three-try England did enough to beat a physical Samoa 28-9 at Twickenham on Saturday, ending a five-game losing run and giving coach Stuart Lancaster food for thought ahead of next week’s tougher test against Australia. Winger Jonny May scored two tries with Mike Brown also crossing the line as England showed some flashes of brilliance, with 21-year-old flyhalf George Ford, in his first start, behind most of them. The forwards were as impressive as ever, particularly man of the match Chris Robshaw, the captain's tally of 21 tackles being almost double any of his team mates. "It feels good, it's been a long time," said Lancaster after seeing his side's first win since the Six Nations. "There are still areas to improve on but there were some real positives, particularly George Ford and Anthony Watson, two young players who did well." England, sporting a new kit of red shirts and black shorts, seemed unsure what tactics to use in difficult wet conditions in a game scheduled for the evening as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup. BACKLINE PACE Their pack was on top from the start but, desperate to inject some backline pace into their game after two disappointing weeks in that department, they too often rushed their passes. They got it right after 20 minutes though when Ford produced a nice loop to open the way for May to again show his red-hot pace and score the opening try. Ford showed some bright touches and landed two penalties and a conversion to give England a 13-6 halftime lead as the Samoans, as physical as ever, replied with two Tusi Pisi penalties. England were quickly into their stride in the second half and fashioned an excellent try after Ford arrowed a superb cross-kick into the arms of Watson, who unselfishly offloaded for Brown to score. Soon afterwards a rolling maul sucked most of the Samoans in to leave May half the pitch to score his second with the islanders down to 14 after centre John Leota was yellow-carded for a high hit on Ford. England lost their concentration, though, amid the emptying of their bench and failed to finish several promising positions. The Samoans had threatened to boycott Saturday’s match in a desperate bid to bring their union to the table to address a host of concerns and England's players showed their appreciation and solidarity by joining their traditional post-match prayer. (Editing by Ken Ferris)