After the disappointment of the heavy defeat by South Africa, England knew they had to beat Samoa to set up another crunch clash against Tonga. For England captain Corry, the performance was a welcome outcome at the end of a testing week.
?We?ve been through so many emotions as a team and as a squad since the South Africa game,? he said. ?But most important, we?re a team who have been playing below our potential, so it was important that we showed our hand.
?There was a lot of frustration over that, but we had a very good week?s training and it was pleasing that what we?ve been doing in training came out on the pitch.?
Corry, who was joined in the starting XV by clubmates George Chuter and Ben Kay, set England on their way with a second-minute try in Nantes, then added his second of the day four minutes from full-time.
Lewis Moody was introduced to the action after 70 minutes and Tigers colleague Dan Hipkiss gained his first World Cup experience three minutes later when he replaced Mathew Tait in the England midfield.
Alesana Tuilagi played the full 80 minutes for Samoa but they cannot now qualify and will be heading home after the final Pool A game against the USA on Wednesday.
James Hamilton played the last 11 minutes of Scotland?s 40-0 defeat by New Zealand at Murrayfield. The Scots now face a winner-takes-all clash with Martin Castrogiovanni?s Italy on Saturday to determine who qualifies for the last eight in Pool C.
Seru Rabeni appeared as a second-half replacement as Fiji lost 55-12 to Australia in Pool B. Fiji face Wales on Saturday with a quarter-final place awaiting the winners.
