Italy knocked England out of the 1978 World Cup qualifying stages and it will be the fifth time since 1972 that England have been drawn against Poland. Scotland's passage looks easier, facing Sweden, Austria, Latvia, Belarus and Estonia. Whether Jack Charlton will be at hand to steer Ireland through the qualification stages, will be decided over the New Year, but they have a fight on their hands, coming up against Romania. The others in their group do not look too strong though as they face Liechenstein, Iceland, Lithuania and Macedonia. Wales and Northern Ireland will both struggle to qualify, facing formidable opponents.
Wales have Holland, Belgium, Turkey as their main contenders.
Northern Ireland possibly have the most difficult task with Germany, Portugal, Ukraine, Albania and Armenia. The battlelines have been drawn in Group One, with Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia Hertzegovnia all drawn together. Games will commence after next summer's European Championship. England 27 Western Samoa 9 England showed little sign of any form or inspiration against the touring Western Samoans, relying heavily on penalties to kick themselves into a winnning position. The beautiful game of flowing, running rugby, that has been the trademark of Southern hemisphere teams for years, appears still to be beyond the reach of this England setup.