England captain Martin Johnson last night warned his World Cup team-mates to beware the unpredictable danger of Samoa.

The South Sea Islanders will go into Sunday's clash against England at Telstra Dome as Pool C leaders following runaway victories over Uruguay and Georgia.

Johnson had a message for anyone who thinks England might have done all the hard work in terms of a quarter-final place by defeating fierce rivals South Africa in Perth last Saturday.

England's 25-6 success put them in pole position for the last eight, but Johnson wants a no-nonsense performance to avoid the possibility of slipping up against a quality Samoan side.

''It is all about qualifying for the later stages of the competition,'' Johnson said.

''There is no point in doing all that good work last week and making all that effort if we relax now. The Samoan players can play, and they are top of the group.

''Samoa, in some ways, have got a lot less to lose than South Africa because people will be expecting us to win, but Samoa are a very dangerous team.

''They will probably take more chances, so that makes them dangerous. They have 15 guys who can all run and play with the ball and, if the structure of the game gets loose and they get some momentum, then everyone from numbers one to 15 can cause problems.'

''If you give them enough ball to play with, then obviously, they are going to hurt you. They are an exciting team to watch, and the neutrals are probably going to back them.''

England boss Clive Woodward has made eight changes for the Samoa clash, including the positional switch of Jason Robinson from wing to full-back.

A capacity crowd of 55,000 is expected under the Dome's closed roof, and the encounter could prove to be one of the tournament's outstanding games.

''As far as the pool stages are concerned, it's all about winning these games,'' Johnson said.

''The points will be as valuable as against anyone else. Ideally we want to carry on getting better every game.''

While England were thrilled with their brilliant defensive display against South Africa five days ago, there has been plenty to work on in training this week, especially in terms of ball-retention and controlling contact areas.

''We turned the ball over far too much against South Africa, and we need to take control of the contact area a lot better this week and give ourselves a chance to get forward in the game,'' Johnson added.

''The pressure was on us, but we came through and we didn't fall apart, winning by 19 points.''

Samoa have proved themselves in previous World Cups as giant-killing material, beating Wales in both the 1991 and 1999 tournaments, while giving eventual world champions South Africa a fearful examination eight years ago.

''Their results in the World Cup show that they are always capable of doing something like that. There is an unpredictability about them that makes them dangerous. Anything can happen,'' Johnson said.

The Leicester lock will take charge of an England side containing four players making their World Cup debuts - wing Iain Balshaw, centre Stuart Abbott, hooker Mark Regan and prop Julian White - but Woodward has retained his experienced core by the inclusion of Johnson, fly-half Jonny Wilkinson and No 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, who all start their third game.

''The boys want to play,'' Johnson said.

''The guys that played against Georgia felt better for that game when they played against South Africa the following week. They played themselves into a little bit more form and match sharpness, whatever you want to call it.

''Everyone wants to play, which is a good thing.''

England continued their preparations yesterday, with torrential rain again falling in Melbourne.

But there will be no problems on Sunday, with the roof closed