Amor just got the ball over the line to seal the win for England

Harlequins wing Ugo Monye touched down after five minutes to put England ahead but Samoa came back with a try by Kiri Mariner to make it 7-7 at the break.

England captain Simon Amor grabbed a second try but Ben Gollings' conversion hit the post to set up a tense finale.

Samoa frantically attacked but England held on to top Pool B in Hong Kong.

We have won ugly, by hook and by crook England Sevens coach Mike Friday

England had lost their opening game against France on Friday and needed to win their final two matches to be certain of reaching the knockout stages.

They responded in their first match on Saturday by defeating Chinese Taipei 41-0 thanks to tries from Richard Haughton, Monye, Gollings, Henry Paul, Rob Thirlby and Neil Starling.

But coach Mike Friday admitted Samoa provided an altogether tougher opposition.

"We have won ugly, by hook or by crook ," he said.

"Our defence won us that game, pure grit and determination by Pat Sanderson, Phil Dowson, Pete Richards and Henry Paul.

Well done England - a good recovery from the France game yesterday. From G Have your say on rugby union

"But we haven't been performing like we had hoped and I will make sure that changes. I can assure you that I have aged significantly during that match."

Scotland secured their place in the cup quarter-finals with a 12-7 defeat over Tonga, although they lost their final group game 48-0 to New Zealand.

The All Blacks advanced to the last eight unbeaten and now face France.

Fiji also maintained their 100% record in the tournament and take on Argentina in a battle of the third and fourth seeds.

South Africa had handed Argentina their first defeat of the tournament to haul themselves top of Pool D and meet Australia in the quarter-finals.