England scrum-half Danny Care can expect starting place against Samoans after finishing off Australia

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Chris Jones20 November 2017

Harlequins trio Danny Care, Joe Marler and fit-again Mike Brown are set to start for England in their final autumn Test, against Samoa, at Twickenham on Saturday.

Scrum-half Care was the catalyst for a remarkable scoring spree that allowed England to complete a 30-6 win over Australia. His tactical kicking and support work fashioned three tries, including one for himself, after coming on as one of head coach Eddie Jones’ ‘finishers’, replacing Ben Youngs in the second half.

Now, Care is ready to start his first game of the three-Test series, with Brown expected to reclaim the full-back role from Anthony Watson after completing his return-to play protocols after suffering concussion in the opening Test against Argentina. Loose-head prop Marler, back after a three-week ban, delivered a solid performance at the scum after coming on as a replacement for Mako Vunipola and can expect to start against Samoa.

Jones will also look at giving Bath lock Charlie Ewels a run out against the Samoans, who ran Scotland close nine days ago but lost 17-13 to Romania in Bucharest on Saturday.

The Samoan Rugby Union is bankrupt and has received a £75,000 gift from the Rugby Football Union, but they can expect short change from Jones’ men on Saturday.

Care knows that Samoa can pose a dangerous challenge, thanks to their heavy-hitting tackles, and said: “We will have to start very well against Samoa and they will come out firing against us.

“It will be a massive game at Twickenham. I have played them a few times and, obviously, it will be physical and fast and we need a good start to crack on.

“We want to win every game we play. We never set targets on how many tries we want to score or anything. We just want to play well and, hopefully, our performance will take care of that. But we’ll have to be right on the money to get the result we want.”

England will be looking for another big game from their pack. Wasps captain Joe Launchbury’s physical performance against the Wallabies earned him the man-of-the-match award and the return of Maro Itoje confirmed the Saracens forward is in great form, along with Northampton’s Courtney Lawes, who deserves a break after excelling against the Pumas and Australia. Itoje was not selected for England’s opening Test, due to his heavy workload with Saracens, but came on early against Australia, replacing the concussed Sam Underhill.

Strong finish: Danny Care
Getty Images

Care added: “Eddie talks all the time about the fact that it’s not just about the 23 that got to put the shirt on [against Australia] but the entire 33, the lads that have put in the graft and are sent back to the clubs to play. We owe them a performance.

“As a finisher, it’s about increasing the tempo and the energy of the team when you get on and trying to put in a good performance.

“The boys were brilliant from minute one. They put in a hell of a shift and it’s nice when you come on and add something to that. It’s great to get the win.”

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