England vs Samoa live: Elliot Daly scores twice as Eddie Jones' side end 2017 on a high in seven-try rout

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's autumn international between England and Samoa, brought to you from pitchside at Twickenham Stadium.

Let's start our build-up to today's encounter, with an hour to go until kick-off. Eddie Jones, the England coach, has challenged his side to fight fire with fire after working with Samoa in the past, and he is fully aware of the threat that the Pacific Islanders will pose if England fail to physically dominate them.

England are skippered today by a familiar face in Chris Robshaw - the England skipper from 2011 until 2015 - and George Ford, with the pair sharing the duty for the second time this year. It's a remarkable story surrounding Robshaw, who two years ago was pretty much written off by Jones.

There's certainly no doubt who Samoa will try to target this afternoon, with fly-half George Ford set to have a giant task on his hands trying to stop the rampaging back-rows running down his channel and the flying defence that will meet him when he has the ball.

With Robshaw and Ford co-captaining England today, could the end be nigh for Dylan Hartley's reign? No, is the answer, as Eddie Jones has already confirmed that the hooker will return to the role for the Six Nations next year.

With Hartley on the bench, Jamie George gets his first start for England after a world record 19 consecutive Test appearances as a replacements. He's joined in the starting XV by Sam Simmonds, who makes just his third cap and first start, and here's what Jones had to say about the pair.

Much of the build-up to this match surrounded the financial crisis that has engulfed Samoan rugby, with the union declaring themselves bankrupt only for World Rugby to reject that claim. As a result of the dispute, the England players have decided not to give their match fees to their opposition today, as Mako Vunipola has suggested earlier this month. Here's how the messy saga unfolded.

Should England be giving the Samoans some help in the financial department? Yes, says Jonathan Liew, whose column this week takes a look at the history between the two countries and what that means for rugby.

Here's a reminder of how the two teams line-up today:

England: Mike Brown; Jonny May, Henry Slade, Alex Lozowski, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Danny Care; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Charlie Ewels; Maro itoje, Chris Robshaw, Sam Simmonds.

Replacements: Dylan Hartley, Joe Marler, Harry Williams, Nick Isiekwe, Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs, Piers Francis, Semesa Rokoduguni.

Samoa: Ahsee Tuala, Paul Perez, Kieron Fonotia, Alapati Leiua, David Lemi; Tim Nanai-Williams, Dwayne Polataivao; Jordan Lay, Motu Matu'u, Donald Brighouse; Josh Tyrell, Chris Vui; Piula Fa’asalele, TJ Ioane, Jack Lam.

Replacements: Manu Leiataua, Jay Lay, Hisa Sasagi, Fa’atiga Lemalu, Ofisa Treviranus, Melani Matavao, Rey Lee-Lo, Jamie-Jerry Taulagi.

Just a few minutes to go then until the teams emerge from the tunnel. It's a much-changed England side without a number of key names, against a Samoa side that has struggled this season - both on and off the field.

However, the changes could well disrupt the hosts today, and it Samoa find their stride early on, who knows what could happen today.

An update on the conditions: it's a dry yet chilly day, and as the sun disappears behind the West Stand, it's only going to get colder. Someone send the hot chocolate...