Beware Samoa, warns Johnson.

Byline: By Andrew Baldock

England captain Martin Johnson last night warned his World Cup team-mates to beware the unpredictable danger of Samoa.

The South Sea Islanders will go into Sunday's clash against England at Telstra Dome as Pool C leaders following runaway victories over Uruguay and Georgia.

And Johnson had a message for anyone who thinks that England might have done all the hard work in terms of a quarter-final place by defeating fierce rivals South Africa in Perth last Saturday.

England's 25-6 success put them in pole position for the last eight, but Johnson wants a no-nonsense performance to avoid the possibility of slipping up against a quality Samoan side.

"It is all about qualifying for the later stages of the competition," Johnson said.

"There is no point in doing all that good work last week and making all that effort if we relax now. The Samoan players can play, and they are top of the group.

"Samoa, in some ways, have got a lot less to lose than South Africa because people will be expecting us to win, but Samoa are a very dangerous team.

"They will probably take more chances, so that makes them dangerous. They have 15 guys who can all run and play with the ball and, if the structure of the game gets loose and they get some momentum, then everyone from numbers one to 15 can cause problems," Johnson added.

"If you give them enough ball to play with, then obviously, they are going to hurt you. They are an exciting team to watch, and the neutrals are probably always going to back them."

England boss Clive Woodward has made eight changes for the Samoa clash, including the positional switch of Jason Robinson from wing to full-back.

A capacity crowd of 55,000 is expected under the Dome's closed roof, and the encounter could prove to be one of the tournament's outstanding games.

"As far as the pool stages are concerned, it's all about winning these games," Johnson said.

"A win against Samoa and the points will be as valuable as against anyone else. It is about qualifying for the quarter-finals and ideally we want to carry on getting better every game."

While England were thrilled with their brilliant defensive display against South Africa five days ago, there has been plenty to work on in training this week, especially in terms of ball-retention and controlling contact areas.

"We turned the ball over far too much against South Africa, and we need to try and take control of the contact area a lot better this week and give ourselves a chance to get forward," Johnson added.

England v Samoa Matchfacts

* The countries have met on two previous occasions - England lead the series 2-0.

* ENGLAND'S record win was a 44-22 success at King's Park, Durban during the 1995 World Cup.

* WHEN England last met Samoa in 1995 at Twickenham, scrum-half Matt Dawson and back-row forward Lawrence Dallaglio both made their international debuts.

* ENGLAND prop Jason Leonard will make his 18th World Cup appearance on Sunday, breaking the record set by former All Blacks skipper Sean Fitzpatrick.

* SAMOAN centre Brian Lima is also set to create a tournament-best by featuring in his 15th successive World Cup game.

* FOUR England players will start a World Cup match for the first time on Sunday - they are wing Iain Balshaw, centre Stuart Abbott, hooker Mark Regan and prop Julian White.

* ENGLAND are the only team in World Cup 2003 yet to concede a try, having kept their line intact during victories over Georgia (84-6) and South Africa (25-6).

* ENGLAND captain Martin Johnson will win his 80th cap on Sunday. Only Leonard (108) and Rory Underwood (85) have played more Tests for their country.

* UNBEATEN Pool C leaders Samoa began their campaign by defeating Uruguay 60-13 and Georgia 46-9, scoring 16 tries in the process.

* ENGLAND'S last appearance at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne was four months ago, when they beat the world champions Australia a respectable 25-14.