Sam Burgess has hit back at claims that his selection for the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup by the then coach Stuart Lancaster was an “almighty blunder”.
Burgess, who had never played union before joining Bath in October 2014, was controversially fast-tracked into the England squad less than a year after switching codes. When England failed to reach the quarter-finals in their home World Cup, Burgess, playing at centre, was made one of the primary scapegoats. His selection was bitterly criticised in a new book by the former Rugby Football Union director of professional rugby Rob Andrew who said: “Stuart Lancaster and Andy Farrell have always defended their position on this, but as far as I’m concerned they can say what they like: Burgess was a rogue ingredient in the mix, both before the tournament and during it, and his inclusion had a negative effect.”
Burgess, however, who returned to rugby league in Australia swiftly after the World Cup debacle, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Rob wasn’t really around the camp, Rob didn’t see the work I put in, Rob didn’t see how I contributed to the squad. Rob’s sitting from – in my opinion – an outsider’s view.
“I do disagree with him and I’m sure there are people out there who do know what happened, who understand what went down, how hard the training was, how hard I worked to get in that squad.
“I’m very proud of my performance for England and what I contributed to the team. Unfortunately results didn’t go as we planned at that team but Rob’s entitled to his opinion. He’s trying to sell his book.”
In the book, Andrew had stressed that he did not want to single out Burgess but said: “I would not even begin to pin the blame for our embarrassing World Cup misfire on a single player, but the kerfuffle around the introduction of Burgess was undeniably the tipping point. To this day, I simply do not understand the thinking behind the fast-tracking of a player from international rugby league to international rugby union when so many of the things that had made him wildly successful in the 13-man game were of questionable relevance in the 15-man version. It was an almighty risk to select him in a World Cup squad on such extremely limited and highly questionable evidence and it proved to be an almighty blunder.”
After returning to rugby league with a contract with South Sydney, Burgess told the Guardian that he had no regrets about his time in union. “I was given a task at my club [Bath] to crack it as a six and we got to a Premiership final. I probably played one of my best games in that final but we lost to Saracens. I then got given the challenge to play 12 [for England]. There were four centres to be selected out of nine. I made the four, which took a lot of dedication.
“People might forget I chased some serious goals. Fingers will always be pointed but deep down I wouldn’t change anything. The bottom line is that my heart didn’t lie there [in union] and I didn’t want to spend four more years doing something I didn’t quite love.”
The dual-code international is now gearing up for another World Cup, in rugby league, and believes Wayne Bennett’s side can go one better than the semi-final showing of Steve McNamara’s class of 2013.
Burgess was in the England team that lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals four years ago and was captain of the side that, despite having home advantage, failed to reach the final of the 2016 Four Nations Series.
However, the South Sydney forward says preparations are going well. “We’re four years further down the track. I had a little look through the squad and I see what we’ve got now and, no disrespect to the squad we had then, but we’ve got a little bit more X-factor, a little bit more solidarity within the team.
“It’s been together for 18 months and the similar 17, maybe 19 players have been used. The combinations are a bit tighter and the camaraderie is great.
“We’ve got a really good chance over the next six weeks. But it’s down to how hard you work when it gets hard on the field. Games can be won in the last few seconds and that’s what it takes at this level, to concentrate right up until the final whistle.
“The mood is great. We’ve had a great week and a half over in Perth and now we’re in Melbourne. The boys are relaxed and trained extremely hard. We’ve prepared really well. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great start to the World Cup on Friday, it’ll be a physical game. We’re more than ready.”
