So says Danny Care, who makes his Rugby World Cup debut on Saturday when England finish their failed campaign with a meaningless match against Uruguay.
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Brits said watching the misery of England has brought home what it would mean for South Africa, World Cup winners in 1995 and 2007, to also exit early, a possibility raised by their shock 34-32 defeat against Japan in their opening pool game.
But Bath coach Ford told The Times that Burgess would be extending his contract at The Rec by two years, which would take him to the 2019 World Cup.
Lancaster said now was not the time for him to quit, with England still having one “dead” fixture against Pool A minnows Uruguay in Manchester on Saturday.
Television channel ITV is set to lose over a million dollars per game in advertising revenue since England bowed out, while television advertising value for England sponsors will dip by up to 25 percent.
“There was always that belief in the squad that we were good enough to qualify”.
“I’ve conducted them myself in age grade teams and after every tournament or Six Nations”.
Burgess was reported this week to be heading back to rugby league to play for Leeds Rhinos, with speculation intensifying to the point where bookmakers stopped taking bets on his return on Wednesday.
“There will be a lot made out of the review that is to come”, he said.
“Stuart Lancaster will get a bit of stick in the press but he’s tried hard, no doubt about that”, he said. “We closed that game down, and were brilliant in the last 15 minutes against England, coming from behind and showing maturity to close that game down”.
“If they were genuingly interested and they approached me, of course I would be interested”. Asked if that had helped him reach conclusions, he said: “It was raining most of the time, so we didn’t talk that much”.
AS we look to the future with England I think one of the biggest things that needs looking at is the decision not to pick players who play for clubs in France. But his input on the Waratahs’ scrummaging was so valuable that he was given a shortterm deal to stay with the franchise before being offered the chance to fix the Wallabies’ scrum problems before the World Cup.
“I think we can go a long way and we have got to react in the right way to the disappointment we have had in the last few weeks and then move on and get on with it and I think it can definitely swing in a positive way”.
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What a boost it would be for worldwide rugby league if England could capitalise on the failings of their union counterparts by putting on a gripping show of victory.
