Toa Sāmoa stumble at first hurdle against the English

England have doused the Sāmoan Siva Tau to claim game one of their two-test rugby league series.

Things got a bit heated in the second half of the international at The Brick Community Stadium in Wigan last weekend.

A screen grab of the all-in brawl with less than two minutes to go in the Toa Sāmoa-England rugby league test match in Wigan last weekend.

Stacked with plenty of talent, rugby league fans were in for an exciting clash. But the result didn't go the way the visitors had planned.

England thrashed Toa Sāmoa 34-18 in a match marred by a massive second-half brawl.

The game started with Sāmoa’s traditional war dance, Siva Tau, which saw the men in blue get right into the faces of the English.

But it seemed to have spurred the hosts on, who raced out to a 16-0 lead 20 minutes after the opening whistle.

England captain and five-eighth George Williams scored a try and helped set up another.

Toa Sāmoa responded in the 33rd minute when Broncos flyer Deine Mariner crossed the tryline for the first of his two tries to cut England's lead to 10.

The Sāmoans were caught napping and NRL stars Herbie Farnworth and Victor Radley linked up for England’s fourth try in the 48th minute.

Farnworth, the player of the match with 204 metres, two tries, and one-try assist, broke free close to the Sāmoan line to find Radley and offload sending him to the tryline.

Mariner kept the Sāmoans in the game, scoring his second try minutes later.

The drama unfolded in the 63rd minute when a minor scuffle erupted with Luciano Leiulua and John Bateman in the middle of it.

Toa Sāmoa defenders stop an England attack. Photo/NRL

England continued to flex their power, with Matty Lewis scoring the game-sealing try in the 71st minute.

But Sāmoa prop Terrell May and England forward Matty Lees felt they had some things to say to each other with May wrestling Lees to the ground.

An all-in brawl broke out which involved about every player on the field.

Sunday's shenanigans have set up what is expected to be a fiery second Test at Headingley in Leeds early Sunday (NZ time).

Toa Sāmoa coach Ben Gardiner says his side must do better in the second test.

“I felt that we didn’t take our opportunities when we needed to," he told journalists.

"We did a much better job in the second half and put more pressure on.

Photo/NRL

“For us, it’s about learning lessons, controlling the momentum for longer, putting it deeper into the corner and being able to control the middle parts of the sets.”

England coach Shaun Wane says there is plenty they will need to work on ahead of the second Test.

“That performance wouldn’t trouble Australia. We know what we need to fix as a group. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way to Sāmoa, but we need to be better.”

Scores: England (6 tries) - Herbie Farnworth 7', Matty Ashton 13', George Williams 20', Victor Radley 48', Matty Ashton 58', Mikey Lewis 70'. Conversions: 5 - Harry Smith.

Toa Sāmoa: Deine Mariner 33', Deine Mariner 52', Gordon Chan Kum Tong 75'. Conversions: 3 -Fetalaiga Pauga.

Australia, the reigning world champions, are set to tour England in 2025 - the first time in more than 20 years - after late talks were held about switching the location of the next Ashes series.

There has not been a traditional three‑match series since 2003 when Great Britain lost 3-0 at home despite leading with less than five minutes remaining in all the games.