England 40 Samoa 3: Mark Cueto has conceded he should shoulder the blame for Lewis Moody's red card on Saturday, a dismissal that could rule the Leicester flanker out of the start of the Six Nations.
Moody was sent off four minutes from the end of a fractious match for his involvement in a brawl that also saw his Leicester team-mate Alesana Tuilagi dismissed. The brawl was sparked by a dangerous tackle on Cueto by Tuilagi.
The Sale wing had leaped high to retrieve a crossfield kick from Charlie Hodgson when Tuilagi flew in and upended him, sending him head first into the ground.
Cueto confronted Tuilagi, only to receive a right hook for his troubles.
Moody, initially the peacemaker, weighed in with two punches to the back of Tuilagi's head.
"In hindsight, I shouldn't have reacted," Cueto said. "Part of the responsibility is to make the right decisions and the right decision would have been to get up and get on with things. I feel bad for Lewis. He just stepped in to help me out. What I did ended up with him getting sent off."
The Six Nations disciplinary committee will meet today to set a date for hearing the cases against Moody, who is looking at a ban of at least eight weeks, and Tuilagi.
Referee Mark Lawrence told Moody, the first England player to be sent off in a Test at Twickenham, he had seen him throw "four or five" punches, which will not help the flanker's case as he was banned for six weeks earlier in the season after being cited for punching in a second-team match between Leicester and Leeds.
Separately the match commissioner may interest himself in the actions of the Samoan captain Semo Sititi, who plays for Borders, and Cueto, and could also review the high tackle by Tanner Vili 10 minutes earlier which earned the Samoan outhalf a yellow card.
During the brawl Sititi charged in and landed a left hook on Cueto and appeared also to throw a series of uppercuts which left Moody's nose streaming blood.
England's head coach Andy Robinson was quick to condemn the brawl, saying: "You can't condone what happens when punches are thrown. He (Moody) was trying to stick up for Mark Cueto, he got punched and it kicked off. We'll put this in the hands of our lawyer . . . because players will get cited . . . and it's important everybody gets a fair hearing."
The brawl ruined what had been a decent, if not inspiring, afternoon for Robinson. Harry Ellis played like the scrumhalf he promised when first selected a year ago and all three autumn internationals, plus a successful summer tour with the Lions, have given Hodgson the confidence to boss England's backs in much the way he does Sale's. The timing of his half-dummied, inside pass to Tom Voyce, for the wing's second try, was the moment that changed the game.
At half-time England were 16-3 up thanks to Voyce's first converted try, from Samoan turnover ball, and three Hodgson penalties from three kicks. After the break and Voyce's second, Hodgson went over in the corner, Ellis got a fourth, showing pace that Matt Dawson no longer has, and 20-year-old Tom Varndell, with only his second touch in Test rugby, made it five tries for the backs.
Of the other debutants Louis Deacon was quietly industrious, Perry Freshwater made solid use of the 60 minutes afforded him by Andrew Sheridan's leg injury, and Lee Mears matched the high standard of lineout work set by Steve Thompson and was handy in the loose.
In a pressurised game where the Leicester scrumhalf might once have lost his head, Ellis stayed calm and lacerated the tiring Samoans. His service is still not the best but it gave Hodgson time to plot possible avenues through a physical defence even if he did take a few late tackles.
England: Lewsey (Wasps); Cueto (Sale), Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Tindall (Gloucester), Voyce (Wasps); Hodgson (Sale), Ellis (Leicester); Sheridan (Sale), Thompson (Northampton), Stevens (Bath); Borthwick (Bath), Deacon (Leicester); Sanderson (Worcester), Moody (Leicester), Corry (Leicester, capt). Replacements: Mears (Bath) for Thompson, Barkley (Bath) for Simpson-Daniel (both h-t); Varndell (Leicester) for Lewsey , Freshwater (Perpignan) for Sheridan, Shaw (Wasps) for Deacon (all 60 mins); Forrester (Gloucester) for Corry (70 mins). Tries: Voyce 2, Hodgson, Ellis, Varndell. Cons: Hodgson 3. Pens: Hodgson 3. Sent off: Moody.
SAMOA: Tagicakibau (Taranaki); Fa'atau (Marists, Wellington), Seveali'i (Sale), Fuimaono-Sapolu (Auckland University), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester); Vili (Kintetsu Liners, Japan), So'oialo (Harlequins); Va'a (Upper Hutt, Wellington), Schwalger (Wellington), Johnston (Taranaki); Leo (Sunny Bay, Queensland), Taele-Pavihi (Otago); Lafaiali'i (Bayonne), Sititi (Borders, capt), D Farani (Coventry). Replacements: Lealamanu'a (Biarritz) for Johnston (60 mins); Tupai (Bay of Plenty) for Taele-Pavihi (62 mins). Pen: Vili. Sent off: Tuilagi. Sinbin: Va'a 61, Vili 66.
Referee: M Lawrence (South Africa).
