England’s stuttering stars (I use the word loosely) will be breathing just a little easier after Tonga’s surprise 19-15 victory over Samoa in Montpellier yesterday.

The batttle of the Pacific Islanders, as expected, produced some fearsome moments, none worse than Hale T-Pole’s cynical elbow on Leo Lafaiali’i that saw the Samoan flanker become the first player to be red-carded in the 2007 World Cup. Poor Lafaiali’i was Pole-axed - literally - but the worrying aspect was that it was the third over-the-top tackle T-Pole had pulled off during the afternoon in Montpellier.

Tonga ended the game with 13 men after Toma Toke was yellow-carded late on - but they still had the resilience to chalk up their first victory over their island rivals for seven years.

'The terror of the Tongans and the bruisers of Samoa - the prospect is not a pleasant thought'

The blessing from England’s point of view is that they won’t have to face T-Pole, a Junior All Black, in their upcoming Pool A match. He’ll inevitably be banned…but while England will be relieved that their expected rivals for a qualifying place, Samoa, have now been replaced by their South Seas neighbours. The reality, however, is that Brian Ashton’s men now face a double peril - with both Samoa or Tonga still capable of qualifying and victories required over BOTH to be sure of making the last eight.

I was chatting this afternoon with an England old-stager, hard-man Lions lock Wade Dooley. And the 6ft 8in giant, who played in the 1991 Final against Australia, reckons it was England’s worst performance in 20 years.

Wade says they have not played so badly since the 1987 quarter-final, when they were beaten by Wales after an abysmal 80 minutes. Ironically, four years later they had become one of the world’s best sides - a complete reversal of their fortunes between 2003 and 2007.