Pool C / England 35 Samoa 22: England could still win the World Cup next month but even their captain Martin Johnson did not sound terribly convinced as Melbourne's clocks ticked towards midnight.
"We're not going to beat teams in the knockout stages if we're making that many mistakes," he said, bluntly. "We've got to look at ourselves as players and get ourselves sorted out."
There will be plenty more brooding self-analysis once England have relocated north to Queensland, where they are due to spend the next fortnight. By struggling to subdue a Samoan side who did their island people proud, Clive Woodward's team singularly failed to take the purposeful step forward they had intended. They now have a guaranteed place in the last eight but, frankly, the glittering prize looks farther away than it has for months.
Creeping English self-doubt is starting to erode the breezy conviction of a few weeks ago.
"We've got to look at ourselves before we look at other teams," confessed Johnson, among several English forwards who fell badly foul of the referee Jonathan Kaplan. "We seem to be doing things that we do regularly in the northern hemisphere yet we're getting penalised for them. We need to look at it and change things if we need to."
Defeat in Brisbane to either Uruguay or their likely quarter-final opponents Wales remains unlikely but, as Johnson is aware, that is not the point.
Samoa, it must be stressed, were superb, playing a full part in a minor classic, gripping from start to finish and studded with hard, strong running and ferocious tackling. The only snag, from an English point of view, was that the men in blue supplied most of the highlights.
"We haven't played a team who's played that well in the first 20 minutes since I can remember," admitted Johnson. "They asked us questions we haven't been asked for a long time. They aren't minnows. They're a fantastic rugby side."
If a final victory margin of 13 points sounds comfortable, there was still genuine alarm rippling through English ranks with 18 minutes left when Earl Va'a's fifth penalty put his side 22-20 up. Four months ago on this same ground Woodward's men had swept aside Australia 25-14 and sent a shiver through world rugby; this morning those same rivals will settle down with barely concealed glee around their video recorders.
The reason is self-evident: England, all of a sudden, are running through quicksand compared with some of their rivals. France, their potential semi-final opponents, played with a skip and a jump against Scotland, their 8-9-10 axis of Imanol Harinordoquy, Fabien Galthie and Frederic Michalak looking enviably lean, fast and hungry.
By comparison Lawrence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson and Jonny Wilkinson were hesitant and lacklustre as a trio, forming a squeaky hinge which merely encouraged the Samoans even more.
Moreover, England struggled for any sort of ball and did not have a put-in to the scrum until the second half. Mark Regan's lineout throwing was off-beam and barely five minutes had elapsed when England conceded their first try of the tournament, a quite brilliant team effort which culminated in Samoa's splendid captain, Semo Sititi, smashing his way over after his team had strung together 10 phases.
Even more unsettling was the discovery that Wilkinson's radar was experiencing rare difficulties. Since he was last here in June he had landed 24 successive kicks in an England jersey but his first penalty effort was awry and the master marksman even missed another from bang in front of the posts four minutes before the interval.
By that stage England had at least registered a try, Neil Back collecting a trademark score from a rolling maul, but all their other normal avenues of attack were sealed off. Brian Lima, whose juddering tackles long ago earned him the nickname of "The Chiropractor", was all over Wilkinson and the half-time deficit of 16-13 was about as good as England could have hoped.
Woodward's men, in short, were escorted from their normal comfort zone. The coach was even forced to whistle up the cavalry, Steve Thompson, Phil Vickery and Lewis Moody replacing the below-par Regan, Julian White and Joe Worsley. The effect was immediate, a penalty try for collapsing a scrum putting England back in front.
Va'a duly responded with a couple more of his low but unerring penalties and it was not until the final quarter, when England's fitness told, that the tide turned. Wilkinson's cross-kick towards the vacant right touchline was safely gathered by the sharp-looking Iain Balshaw, and Vickery took Mike Catt's pass to cut inside the cover for his first Test try in his 34th appearance. On another day it would have been a moment of light relief; yesterday it was gratefully received.
There was still time for Des Tuiavi'i to thunder into Wilkinson one last time and Woodward remained defiant. "There's not too many people in this tournament who want to see England do well but I'm very confident in this group of players," he insisted. "You guys in the media should keep your powder dry until you see Samoa play South Africa. We know a good side when we see one. It's still going to take a good side to beat us."
Maybe, but the men from the South Seas have burst England's bubble of complacency.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: J Robinson; I Balshaw, S Abbott (M Catt, 70), M Tindall, B Cohen; J Wilkinson, M Dawson; J Leonard, M Regan (S Thompson, 49), J White (P Vickery, 49), M Johnson (capt), B Kay, J Worsley (L Moody, 49), N Back, L Dallaglio.
SAMOA: T Vili; L Fa'atau, T Fanolua (D Rasmussen, 46), B Lima, S Tagicakibau (D Feaunati, 72); E Va'a, S So'oialo; K Lealamanua, J Meredith (S Lemalu, 52), J Tomuli, O Palepoi, L Lafaiali'i (D Tuiavi'i, 66), P Poulos (K Viliamu, 62), M Fa'asavalu, S Sititi (capt).
Referee: J Kaplan (South Africa).
