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We are a very happy camp today after yesterday’s hard fought victory. It was a great relief to get such a good win over quality opposition. The consequences of failure and going out of the tournament were too dire to think about.

We’ve had the press on our backs right from the start of the tournament following the performance against USA, so it was great to get things back on track and a World Cup quarter final against Australia is now looming large.

But we can’t get too ahead ourselves as we’ve another tough encounter ahead of us on Friday against Tonga. For that game it’s simply winner takes all and up for grabs is that place in the quarters and the Aussies.

The game against Samoa I’m sure was a great game for the neutral but it wasn’t so much fun having to watch it from the bench when there’s nothing you can do to help the 15 guys out on the field.

At half time we were convincingly ahead and the aim was to get out and make sure we scored first in the second half. Unfortunately the Samoan’s came out very strongly and at 26-22 with less than 20 minutes, the finger nails were being bitten.

The locals in the crowd were getting behind the Samoans and we needed to be composed. I thought we not only did that, but were really clinical in taking the chances that came our way. We closed the game out fantastically well.

Today has been a chance for some R & R. We are still down in Nantes and have had families and friends with us and it’s been a very chilled day. We’ve largely been left to our own devices with some of the guys heading to the golf course and others, me included, indulging in a spot of go-karting.

We’ll be heading back up to our HQ outside Paris tomorrow and then from Tuesday onwards we’ll be fully focussed on the Tonga game. We are happy with the win but we know that there is still plenty to work on ahead of Friday.

The bonus from yesterday was that we didn’t pick up any injuries. As always against any team from the Pacific Islands yesterday was a very physical game, but also a fair one and played in great spirit. Obviously there are a few bumps and bruises to nurse from yesterday but nothing more serious than that.

I’m sure Brian [Ashton] would relish the opportunity to pick an unchanged team. Even with Phil [Vickery] available for selection after completing his suspension. If we did go with the same team, it would the first time in a good wile since we’ve been able to do that. And to be fair the guys that played yesterday deserve to stay in the team

We picked a team to do a job against the USA and didn’t really perform. We then picked what was supposed to be our first choice team against South Africa and we were well beaten. But yesterday, when we needed a win desperately to stay in the competition, the guys who were selected stepped up to the plate.

So it’s onwards and upwards. As I said, we know that we’ve a tough game ahead of us on Friday against a very physical Tongan side who will be putting everything on the line to try to get past us, but we are relishing the prospect of facing Australia. And believe me we don’t to miss out on that!

I’m signing off now but will be back later in the week to give an update on how preparations are going for the Tonga game.