By JULIE ASH
England beat Samoa 48-26 in Apia yesterday in the first full international on the island.
The victors are on their way to New Zealand where they start a three-test series against the Silver Ferns in Christchurch on Monday.
England, coached by former Silver Ferns Lyn Gunson and Waimarama Taumaunu,
led at every quarter - 11-7, 23-11, 34-17 and a final 48-26.
Samoan coach Rita Fatialofa said she was "fairly" impressed with the English unit.
"Their defenders are very rangy and their midcourt had a bit of speed on our team," she said. "Their defence also gave us a bit of a hard time in midcourt."
The Samoan side are captained by former Silver Fern Linda Vagana and include New Zealand-based players Rachel Rasmussen and Frances Solia (Canterbury), Nicolette Ropati and Malu Faasavalu (North Harbour) and Ana Senio (Diamonds).
"The first quarter was good and we managed to force them into a few errors," Fatialofa said. "But we really let ourselves down in the second quarter and made too many unforced errors.
"Although it was a low-scoring game we are grateful for the opportunity to have played England as it has given a gauge of where we are at before the world champs in July.
"I would have been happier if we could have kept the score a bit closer in the second quarter but the team had only been together for three days so it was difficult."
England had a brief stopover in Auckland before flying to Apia for yesterday's match.
They arrive back in Auckland this morning en route to Christchurch for Monday's start of their series against the Silver Ferns.
The second test will be played in Wellington on Wednesday night and the last match of the Fisher and Paykel Series is scheduled for the North Shore Events Centre tomorrow week.
