Pisi's Samoa eye 'historic' defeat of England at World Cup

Samoa assistant coach Tusi Pisi said his side can "make history" by beating England in the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.

The Pacific Islanders, who maintain a slim hope of reaching the quarterfinals, have never got the better of England despite playing them eight times.

To reach the knockout phase, Samoa need to score four tries and win by a healthy margin as well as hope Argentina and Japan draw when they meet on Sunday.

"We're ready for a good battle. It's an opportunity to make history," former Samoa fly-half Pisi told reporters.

"We've never beaten England, so if we do what we’ve trained (to do) and win against England, that's first and foremost the main thing," he added.

Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua said earlier in the week he wanted his team to play an "unapologetically Samoan" style of rugby against England.

Lock Brian Alainu'u'ese defined that style as "doing your job as best as you can, being physical in everything you do with a smile on your face."

In Lille, they will face compatriot and fluent Samoan speaker Manu Tuilagi, who starts for England at centre against his country of birth for the first time.

"As the boss said, we want to be unapologetically Samoan and Manu understands that," Pisi said.

"The way he plays, he plays like that. We want to be the same.

"We'll give him a gift, then he'll give us a gift, back and forth," the 41-year-old added with a wry grin.

England are already guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals after winning their first three Pool D matches.