Harlequins ace George Lowe scored a try as England U20s hammered Samoa 52-7.

Henry Trinder cut Samoa to pieces as England booked a place in the semi-finals of the IRB Toshiba Junior World Championship with their most ruthless display of the season.

The Gloucester centre touched down twice - taking his tally to six tries in six games this season - and created a third for Harlequins wing George Lowe.

Carl Fearns (Sale Sharks) scored twice from the base of the scrum, and Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) and Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby) also touched down with London Irish full back Tom Homer adding 14 points and Rory Clegg a second half penalty.

Samoa's slack defending certainly helped them but the way England kept the pressure on their rivals was hugely encouraging and they now face either France or South Africa in next Wednesday's semi final.

England made eight changes to the side that beat Scotland 30-7, the most significant being the return of captain Calum Clark from a month on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury.

They had started slowly against Japan and Scotland but got off to a flier here with two tries from Trinder in the first 10 minutes.

Luke Eves's break and Homer's support run put Trinder away for the first down the right, Homer converting, then Ben Youngs' chip over a ruck into open space saw the ball break away from Winston Wilson in the dead ball area for Trinder to touch down a second.

Homer's 13th and 20th minute penalties established a healthy lead and despite putting themselves under pressure with a few unforced errors England were exposing some striking Samoan weaknesses in defence and at the set piece, despite loosehead Ben Moon giving away 55kg in weight to Uini Atonio.

Samoa missed a glaring chance to get on the board when Rayhan Laulau topped his shot from in front of the posts and England added a third try when Trinder broke and set Lowe scorching to the line.

And any fears about dealing with Samoa's big pack evaporated on the half-hour when they were shoved backwards with Fearns finishing off the pushover try.

They added a fifth try on the stroke of half-time, Fearns breaking and feeding Youngs from the base of a five-metre scrum.

The second half was much more sedate, the job done and the heat and humidity taking their toll with referee Pascal Gauzere stopping play regularly so the players could take on more water.

Clegg added a penalty but England lost some shape after that and Samoa took advantage with a 50th minute try from scrum half Auvasa Falealii.

Fearns added his second on the hour, though, and Sharples jinked over after a neat switch of play by Dave Lewis to take them past the half-century mark 10 minutes from time.

England U20: Tom Homer (London Irish; Greig Tonks, Leicester Tigers 41); Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby; Dave Lewis, Gloucester Rugby 54), Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby), George Lowe (Harlequins); Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons; Rob Miller, Newcastle Falcons 53), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs), James Clark (London Irish), Bob Baker (London Wasps), Dan Williams (Gloucester Rugby), Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors; James Gaskell, Sale Sharks 55), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Calum Clark (Leeds Carnegie, captain; Josh Ovens, Bath Rugby 17-23, 59), Carl Fearns (Sale Sharks; Jamie George, Saracens 67).

Replacement (not used): Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby) Scorers: Tries: Trinder 2, Fearns 2, Lowe, Youngs, Sharples. Conversions: Homer 4. Penalties: Homer 2, Clegg.